Karma Is Not What You Think: How Desire and Emotional Mastery Shape Our Soul Lessons

Ever get the idea that karma works like a credit score? 

You imagine: if you make “on-time payments” to the good deed bank, your score stays high. You keep yourself in the green zone, hoping good karma keeps rolling your way.

But what if I told you that karma isn’t about punishment or rewards—it’s about unmet desires?

Karma isn’t about right and wrong. That’s human perception, deeply tied to societal programming, not soul evolution. True karma arises from desire. Sometimes it's ours. Other times, it’s a seed planted by someone else that unknowingly grows in our energetic garden.

Karma is when that seed sprouts into a moment you didn’t see coming.

It might look like: 

– A dress in a store window that suddenly consumes your attention 

– A relationship that enters your life and flips everything upside down 

– A car accident 

– A series of frustrating setbacks when trying to buy a home

That last one? That’s been my own reality lately—repeated roadblocks, closed doors, and detours on what I thought was a clear path. But it turns out, the desire itself became the lesson. A reminder that maybe that path wasn’t mine to walk.

Desire is the Root. Karma is the Classroom.

Desire is defined as a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. And often, we’re put into situations where our desires—and the desires of others—collide in the wildest ways.

Like this story:

Last summer, I was on the road in my truck camper, stopped at a service station off I-80 in Indiana. A man stood outside, watching me park next to his car. I could tell he was nervous about my vehicle's size compared to his.

What was my desire? To continue mastering emotional regulation and apply the tools I’d been developing to stay calm in the face of conflict.

When I came back outside, I noticed he had moved his car over a couple of feet. As I pulled out of the spot, his teenage son opened the back door at the exact moment my jack leg caught it—twisting the door and mangling it badly.

The man lost it. Full-blown meltdown. Screaming in my face, blaming me. “This is exactly what I knew would happen!” he yelled.

But I had already turned down the emotional dials in my first and second chakras. I stayed calm. I didn’t argue. I went to his son and asked if he was okay.

Meanwhile, this man had done everything he could to avoid this situation—moved his car, tried to control the outcome. Maybe his own karmic desire was to prove he was right, and looking for validation. Maybe he’d even wished for a new car.

This wasn’t about blame. It was about two desires intersecting in the form of a karmic incident. A moment of soul learning.

The Real Lesson? I Passed My Own Test.

In that moment, I proved to myself how much I’d healed. I didn’t react. I didn’t spiral. I used my psychic and energetic tools to stay grounded, present, and emotionally self-aware.

That was the real test. Not the accident itself.

And that’s the thing—karma often shows up not as retribution, but as an invitation to notice how we respond. It’s not just about what happens to us—it’s about how we handle what happens.

We don’t wish for accidents. But sometimes, our desire for growth and healing opens the door for the experiences that lead us there.

Karma Isn’t About Punishment. It’s About Practice.

The next time you label something as “karma,” pause and ask yourself:

• What desire is at play here?

• What lesson am I being shown?

• How can I use discernment to grow from this?

We are all here to evolve. To test our tools. To move through life’s curveballs with grace.

And sometimes, the karmic lesson is simply this: You’ve already come so far.

Curious about the karmic patterns shaping your own path? Book a personal psychic reading (HERE) to gain clarity on your soul lessons, spiritual evolution, and energy map.