Karma is Not What You Think
In popular culture, karma is reduced to a cosmic reward-and-punishment system: do good things, good things happen to you. This is a profound oversimplification. The original concept, shared across Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain traditions, is far subtler and far more useful.
The Three Types
Sanchita Karma is the total accumulated karma from all previous lifetimes — the full storehouse of latent impressions. Prarabdha Karma is the portion of sanchita that has "ripened" and is playing out in this lifetime. It determines your birth, your tendencies, the broad outlines of your life. Agami Karma is the karma you are creating right now, through your current thoughts, words, and actions.
Working With Prarabdha
You cannot change your prarabdha — it is already set in motion. But you can change how you respond to it. The same life situation can be met with resistance (which creates more binding karma) or with awareness and acceptance (which exhausts the karma without creating new bondage).
This is why the karma journal is such a powerful tool. By tracking your intentions, actions, and reflections daily, you become conscious of the patterns that run your life. Consciousness is the first step to freedom.