I recently planned a trip to visit my friend in Florida. I absolutely love travelling because I’m able to explore places I’ve never seen before. While at the airport, I was sitting amongst all the people waiting for their planes and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What are they all thinking?” “Where is everyone going? Why? What are their stories?” While I was observing all these strangers, one woman in particular caught my attention. She had opened a tab on the iPad ordering service and she realized that she was about to miss her flight. She was an older woman that didn’t seem too familiar with technology. She became frantic because she didn’t know how to pay and thought she would miss her flight. She tried to get the waiter’s attention to help her but everyone was busy. The people around her were attempting to calm her down but the longer she freaked out, the chances of her missing her flight increased. I took it upon myself to say to her, “Hey, don’t worry about the tab. I got it.” She was so thankful and she went off to catch her flight. I was ready to pay for this stranger’s food when the waitress finally came over once the woman was long gone, and said that her credit card was on file already and her bill was paid. I was relieved that a chunk of change wasn’t about to be withdrawn from my bank account but the situation also got me thinking about what ‘good karma’ it would have been.

What really is ‘good karma’? I thought about it my entire flight. It’s selfless. Karma comes from the original language of Sanskrit. It’s defined as, “a spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual.”

I believe in ‘good karma’ because although it may not be right away or anytime soon, our good deeds come back to us. No matter what/who you believe in, I think we all can agree that our actions are observed by something greater than ourselves and alter our lives in ways big and small.

‘Good karma’ is given out every single day. So do a good deed, donate that dollar, pay for that stranger’s coffee, or even just compliment a stranger today. You never know how the world will pay you back and you may be pleasantly surprised by the pay out.