Do you ever think about what you send out into the world coming back to you? You know, you have a bad thought about someone and somebody somewhere else has one about you. Or, better yet, you have a good thought about someone and somebody out in the world has one about you. It might not be right away, but you know it's out there waiting to return to you.

It's called karma. Considered to be a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do, Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward; it simply deals with what is.

The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well. It is cumulative.

It's the kind of thing you think about when you have a difficult boss. Most of us have had that experience. You know the one who only points out the negative, never likes anything you do and is simply unpleasant to be around. I had a boss like that when I worked for a local telephone cooperative. He came into the company from the west coast, telling everyone he would fire them and that everyone could be replaced.

I use to wonder how he slept at night after being so unkind and unfriendly, not to mention unprofessional. It was amazing what an effect he had on the morale and work ethics of everyone. Either nothing got done out of fear or everybody was left scrambling to try to do whatever he wanted. It made a lot of unhappy people stress out. Even when you did a good job, he never told you but took the credit himself. He was not a good boss. It's people like him that make you believe in Karma.

Or, what about the boss who micromanages everything? How can there be enough hours in the day to oversee everything? You wonder is it incompetence or ignorance or just plain fear that makes them behave in that matter. Isn't the point of being a supervisor to supervise? Doing it all yourself sure takes away from that notion. If you don't trust a person to do the job why give them the job?

A person spends up to 80 percent of their life at work. Someone who is incompetent as a supervisor can make that time unbearable.

On the other hand I have had lots of terrific bosses. The kind that gave you a job and let you do it. Told you when you did do a good job and wasn't afraid to tell you how to fix things, not just what you did wrong. People who understand the job must be done but can offer a little humor to make it easier to get done. They understand that a kind word and a little appreciation can make someone work even harder.

There are companies we hear about who employ people who want to come to work every day and look forward to doing a good job. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream comes to mind. But there are a lot of company's in our own backyard that are good places to work with kind or thoughtful managers who treat people the same way they like to be treated. They make working for a living bearable and often enjoyable. They also get more than 100 percent from their staff as well as respect.

Maybe it's what we give or take ourselves. If we make up our minds to use humor and kindness in the workplace regardless of what others around us do it might just make a difference in one person's day.

There is an ad on television that shows a person grabbing a deliveryman's arm as he starts to step into traffic, next, that person picks up a toy that's fallen from a stroller, that person moves a cup of coffee before it gets elbowed off a table, that person helps carry a strangers rug across a busy street, and it goes on. That's Karma in action.

Karma--what we put out there comes back to us. And, if we follow the thought process of the religions that incorporate reincarnation, we get a picture of what those mean nasty bosses were in a past life--it certainly was not a house cat or family dog. I'll leave the imagining to you. Remember a sense of humor helps.

Better yet, think about what they will be in their next life--ah Karma--it's a good thing!