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There is a cosmic principle out there that if you do good, good will come back to you. Spend time being a person who gives back, and be honourable in all that you do. If you help others, you will find that magically, good will come to you at the strangest hour. The principle is age old and its foundation is based in Hinduism and Buddhism. The term is Karma.

Simplified, we often think of Karma to mean ‘what goes around, comes around’ or ‘for any action, there is an equal reaction’. Either way, our perception of Karma is that being a good person results in positive things happening and the opposite that if you are not doing worthy goals, bad things will happen. How many times have we seen someone cut people in traffic and then down the road you see a police car has pulled them over. With a grin you think to yourself – Karma and you carry on your merry way. The equal is true where someone who has always been a virtuous soul and helped many people wins a nice prize at an event and we think to ourselves, ‘that person deserves it’. Perhaps it might be divine intervention?

Karma is an ancient word that has its roots in Hinduism. It rudely translated means ‘action’ or ‘to act’. The idea is that if you do good in your life, you will be rewarded and it may be in this life or another. I don’t believe that many people actively engage to be a positive influence with the idea they will receive something in return. I also don’t believe many people out there do things for the belief, ‘what’s in it for me’. That is not how Karma works.

While I might not be as religious as some people might appreciate, I am spiritual. Saying that, I might suggest another thought on the term Karma…’karma assisted’. My thought is that if you help people out and ask for nothing in return, you would be amazed at what comes back to you. It is about decency and caring. Putting people first and showing that they matter. People appreciate that and will go out of their way to support you in what ever you do in life. By being a caring person, you attract people to you and people want to be near you. I have been witness to Karma assisted on so many occasions. It might be where I don’t even ask and all of a sudden, people are offering to help or be a part of something special. Because I have asked for nothing in return when the action was initiated to help someone, I can be assured that somewhere down the road, people will emerge and want to help. This is the natural law that comes to mind.

Let me share an example with you on how karma assisted works. For many years, I have mentored and coached hundreds. I have never asked for anything in return except that in the future, they must help others in their journey. Well, I wanted to write a book and began a journey. People started to contribute to the book by designing the cover, providing images, editing and so on. I kept asking what I can do for them and all I kept getting back was, “you have helped me when I needed you, now please let me help you…it would mean a lot to me.” That is how karma assisted works.

I feel it is a combination effect. There are two aspects that come forward: 1) people are generally good and believe in practicing mindfulness; and 2) they remember what and how you treated them. You create a connection and memory for that person and based on that, they will have a perception about you. They tell people about you or think about you when something comes up and you have created a memory for them. This becomes your reputation. If you reflect on this, there are two things we hold in life, character and reputation. Character is who you are and reputation becomes people’s perception of who you are. We have to protect them both because this will determine that ‘karma assisted’. We feel good when we do positive things that give back. This comes from a very authentic place and that is honourable.

When something positive or meaningful happens to you, I am sure there are random acts of pure karma that works or perhaps it is just coincidence and it was ‘karma assisted’; however, if you are a good person, people will go out of their way for you to the point where it can be embarrassing. In the end, does it matter if it is karma or ‘karma assisted’? The result is the same and we all walk away feeling terrific. I won’t bank on pure karma but I will continue to be a positive influence and help where I can and not ask for anything in return.