Drive-By Wisdom

People who know me and know me well are aware that I'm an incredibly firm believer in a higher power and the human subconscious' ability to stay closely connected to that power at all times, regardless of our conscious knowledge of this connection. I believe in fate and reincarnation, and that this life each and everyone of us is living has been planned out to the last detail and that there are no such thing as coincidences, just instances of experience where we are pushed back onto our life path when we deviate, or alternatively, a little vote of confidence that we are doing the right thing when we may be questioning ourselves.

So now that half of you reading this probably think I'm a crazy person (although I've read dozens of books on the subject, and there's just too much solid proof through documented individual human experience alone that I still can't believe there are people out there ignorant enough, and ignorance is what it is, to believe otherwise), I will move on.

Sometimes it's just funny where some of these affirmations come from. The past couple weeks I've been re-evaluating my belief in karma (that "goes-around, comes-around" belief) especially after my purse got stolen (which occurred after nearly a dozen occasions where I've found purses, wallets, and credit cards at my store and immediately called banks and tracked down phone numbers to alert the person who lost it). That mantra "nice guys finish last" has been repeating itself in my head as of late, especially when I see truly nice and kind people taken advantage of over and over again (and of which I can't only blame others, as it's happened to me on occasion where I don't stick up for myself as I should. But that's very rare now - luckily I think that that aspect of my life is on the decline, and good riddance!). Lately in the recent past, there have been occasions where sums of money have presented themselves of which were easily accessible and of which no one would have noticed missing. And if so, could have easily been passed off on someone else who would get a slap on the wrist if nothing else. The temptation was great, especially when the money was coming from a source largely unappreciative of my contributions (we'll just keep the details at that!). After some deliberation, I decided that regardless of all this, and my failing faith in karma, I didn't take the money.

Yesterday when I was at work, I went on cash for a few minutes to take over a girl who needed a break. I was on for less than two minutes when an old man came up with his milk and eggs. Nothing out of the ordinary, and he didn't say much past a "hi, nice day" while I was checking his purchase out. He began to walk away, was half way out of the door, when he came back, looked me in the eyes and said something to the extent of: "Always be a good person. As a good person, you'll be kicked in the teeth time and time again. But you're beautiful and good, and when it comes down to it, you'll be the one who comes out on top." And with that, he simply walked away.

I thought it was strange at the time, but later that night when I was thinking back on it, I realized it was exactly that which I needed to hear. An affirmation of my continued faith in a world gone bad. Now I'm not saying it was an angel sent from God, but I definitely think it wasn't a coincidence. Like I said, I don't believe in coincidences.