People can be happy even if they have past bad kamma because suffering is a matter of skill in the present moment

"We often think of kamma as something very diametrically opposed to goodwill [mettā]. How can people be happy if they’ve got bad kamma and deserve to suffer? — that’s what we think, but that’s not what the Buddha taught. The teachings on kamma and goodwill go together. You realize the difference between suffering and non-suffering is a matter, not of past kamma, but of present kamma: your skill in the present moment. The same principle applies to other people as well."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Goodwill & Kamma"

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