Have you ever asked the question “why do bad things happen to good people?” Or (even more confusingly) “why do good things happen to bad people?”

Often we just throw our hands up and say “life’s not fair!” However, this is an incorrect statement because life indeed is fair. We all create our realities using the same rules as everyone else. It’s just that the rules have nothing to do with being good or bad!

To understand these rules, the first thing we should keep in mind is that many of us have been raised to believe that good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished. We are programed to believe that if we act as if we are “good,” good things will happen and if we act “bad,” bad things will happen.

Now, this type of programming is used to manipulate our actions so that we will behave the way our parents, teachers and governments want us to behave. However, even though our parents, teachers and governments believe that good and bad can be defined and receive consequences, the universe does not.

The truth is, the universe isn’t punishing or rewarding anyone. Again, I’ll say it again for more effect: the universe isn’t punishing or rewarding anyone.

The universe is only ever responding to your thoughts through the Law of Attraction. You get what you expect, regardless of how good or bad you are. That’s it. If you expect that “good” things are going to happen to you, it doesn’t matter if you are mean or nasty. Your expectations will still yield positive results.

The same is true in reverse. You may be the nicest, kindest and most helpful person, but if you have negative expectations about how things are going to turn out in life, that is what you will get.

So, although we have been taught that we should be good and do good by others to get good things, what really matters is what we think will happen to us. This is why we all know a few “bad apples” who have the best luck, and a few “good apples” who are always getting beat up by life’s circumstances.

If you don’t believe me, look for evidence in your surroundings. Check out your friends, relatives and coworkers, especially the ones who seem to have particularly good or bad luck. You will find that it isn’t how “good” or “bad” they are that determines their realities, but rather it is their expectations.

For example, I have a personal friend who is one of the nicest, kindest, and most generous people I know. She’s absolutely wonderful. However, she always seems to be getting sick, she has money problems, relationships issues and problems at work.

Why does this friend suffer so much? Well, she’s always talking about her bad luck and her problems. She’s always worried about the future. She’s always concerned about how things are going to turn out. Therefore, the universe delivers her a reality that is chock-full of bad luck, worry and concern.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I think back to a manager I had several years ago who was rude, arrogant and irresponsible. She was hated by just about every member of the staff. However, she was given promotion after promotion, and good things just seemed to drop into her lap.

Why did this manager do so well? Well, she was always talking about how great she was, and how much everyone loved her and how deserving she was. None of the rest of us agreed, but what we thought didn’t matter because we weren’t the ones creating her reality-she was.

Now this doesn’t mean that good deeds are irrelevant. For many of us, being kind to others and helping our fellow man helps us feel good and lifts our spirits. If you feel uplifted by helping others, helping others is a great idea-because it makes you feel good about you! Feeling good about you will definitely help you receive good things from the universe.

Spreading love and kindness are great ways to raise your vibration and make you feel good about who you are and what you are deserving of. So keep doing that, because it absolutely can help.

Just remember, though, that the most important thing is that you have positive expectations for yourself. Ultimately, your expectations are what dictate what you get and what’s held away from you. Without positive expectations for yourself, no amount of kindness, generosity or helpfulness will ever deliver you a positive reality.

What happens to you is ultimately an inside job. You don’t have to run around trying to prove how good you are or how deserving you are based on anyone else’s rules or expectations. What matters is how you feel about yourself and how you feel about the things you want.

So be as “good” as you need to be to feel good about yourself, and take measures to be as optimistic as possible about the things you want. Talk up your strengths, and speak about your desires as if you expect them to manifest in your life. This is how you create reality the way you wish it to be.

I hope this helps to answer the question “why do bad things happen to good people?” If you have any thoughts on this subject, please let me know below in the comments!

By Andrea Schulman, Raise Your Vibration Today

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Image Source: This image was reproduced with permission from the artist, Cameron Gray. All rights reserved.