You may think of Justin Timberlake’s hit lyrics when you hear the term “What Happens Is Coming”. Folk songs have a way of taking an old saying and giving it a new expression. But this term means different things to different people.
For some, “what goes around comes around” means that you will get what you deserve, or that the chickens will come home to sleep.
For others, it seems to imply that you will get what you expect, or that you will get what you deserve. John Lennon, who had a neat way with words, once wrote:
“Instant Karmas will catch you
I’m going to hit you on the head
You better get together
Very soon you will be dead
What the hell are you thinking of?
Laughing in the face of love “
So does everything balance out in the end? All of this does not bode well for the average recovering drug addict. The last thing you want is to get what you deserve, and that instant karma doesn’t sound too good.
So why frame this maxim and hang it on the dining room wall of your Therapeutic Community? What does this expression mean in the lives of those who are recovering from drug addiction?
“What goes around comes around” has to do with the ability to learn patience. However, the bigger picture is to provide a coping mechanism to handle the circumstances that life presents to us. Most of the consequences that now come back to us are now out of our control. Life is not fair. We have been dealt a bad hand.
Injustices and setbacks are part of life, of relationships, of trying our best and not being recognized, of not being affirmed by what we have achieved or of relationships that have not yet been reconciled.
This is all part of the daily routine, but it can serve to discourage those who are recovering. Understanding the meaning of “what happens, what happens” helps the person to accept the circumstances and deal with the consequences.
This maxim can have two important messages:
First, patience is required to accept injustice and injustice in our daily lives because these factors are part of life.
Second, although we may feel that circumstances are not easy to control, this does not mean that we should resign ourselves to our destiny.
We must move forward with confidence because we are hopeful that things will work out in the future. We are not the only ones experiencing these things and we will not be tested beyond our endurance.