Bad medicine beats Good medicine

Kind words conquer.
- Tamil Proverb
There are those that say there is no such thing as "Bad Medicine". I am not sure if that is true. Or the saying that you were "hit" is true or not. Hit being that someone put medicine on you, specifically Bad Medicine. You hear a lot of this at Gatherings (like a Powwow) especially where money is involved or were there is an election of some kind. Some people who are "hit" are not active in any kind of activity that you would think they should be hit. They are not political, not into money or not in the public eye. Maybe it's the good old fashion jealousy thing. I suspect in some cases, they might be hypochondriacs. You know like one of my cousins', who has every aliment you can imagine. Just start telling him about your back ache and he has a slipped disc, or he has a pinched sciatic nerve. Actually I think when you get to a certain age, around 44, you start to talk mostly about health, sickness and death; It's genetic (or maybe social, but who knows). Anyway, back to medicine, I am sure there is medicine, whether we believe or not. What of those people that don't believe in anything except that we are in charge of our direction, our lives? You think that every decision we make is one that is part of your destiny?
Well, it's like this, say you are in control of every move you make, what's to say that every move you make was not foretold? You make an effort to change the outcome of what you normally would have done, normally what you would have decided to do. What if those changes are in the cards already, you will never know for sure if that is the grand design. A bugger isn't it?
What has this ramble have to do with medicine and practicing medicine? People engage in bad medicine all the time, everyone is guilty of putting medicine on others. When you think bad of others, when you wish them bad luck, when you wish they wouldn't win. You are practicing bad medicine. It is easier to practice bad medicine than it is to do good medicine. It is easier to wish bad rather than wish good on people.
Does medicine even exist, after all we can't see it? You can't see it but you can feel it. Ever go into a room where a couple of people are upset with each other. They may not be swearing over even giving signs that something is wrong but you sense it. You can feel the uneasiness, the burr of the coldness, the fire of some bad feelings in the air. Just because you can't see it, it still exists. Same with medicine.
If you are ever hit, you will go to a Medicine man (or woman) and ask to have it fixed. The Medicine person will ask you if you want to send it back to the person who sent it. You will say no, because it doesn't seem to make you look good. But really you want to. Who is to say that you shouldn't be the one to be the "round" in "what goes around comes around"? After all the bad that someone does must be paid in some way or fashion. Who's to say that is not how it should happen? I think we are (at times) the tools of faith or destiny. It is us that is the bad thing that happens to others. Doesn't make it right does it? But maybe it will make people feel a little less heavy for the bad things they do. After all even good people can make bad choices. 
People will tell you that there is no such thing as bad medicine. Well sorry but that is wrong. Bad things exist in the world. As do good things. How can we expect good things without recognizing that there is bad. How can you expect to receive blessings or kindness if you don't expect that there is an opposite? Of course there is an opposite. So we know it's there, but we don't have to feed it.

We want to feed our kindness, our goodness. That is a task. We can easily think bad of others or wish harsh things on people. Why? It is a task to feel real, real gladness for the good fortune of others. It's like anything, if we want to be competent at something we must practice. Same with good medicine. If we want it to beat bad medicine, we must practice it. So the next time that old lady or old man yells bingo from across the hall, think "well good for them". Instead of saying "ah shit".


My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
- The Dalai Lama