I held the door open for someone today, and another person walked by and commented on how that was my "good karma for the day," to which replied, "I've got to do a lot more than that,” to which he then retorted, "no, you don't."

This brief exchange immediately got me thinking about why holding a door open for someone should earn me 'good karma' or anything more than a grateful "thanks" from the one I held it for.

What I did, it was not a nice thing

-- I mean sure, I guess it was --

but what I mean is that

holding the door for someone,

or giving up your seat so another can sit down,

or letting someone with fewer groceries go ahead of you in line,

or actively listening to a stranger who clearly needs someone to talk to,

shouldn't be a "good karma-earning" thing; it should just be an everyday thing.

A "because you're my fellow human" thing.

Sure, these behaviors are friendly, kind, and compassionate, but they are also just THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

Not something abnormal

or extra

or beyond

or grandiose

and indeed not anything worthy of a return of good karma.

The man who spoke to me today didn't mean anything beyond his statements, and, in fact, I think he thought he was just being kind.

I know this.

But I also know that it really stinks that people have this thinking that what should be standard people-to-people concern, care, and aid should come back at us tenfold in the form of good karma.

Do you know how you get good karma? By not wishing for it or seeking it out, but by

being patient with

time

and people,

and letting it come to you because you've manifested it by not trying to earn it.