A Word about Karma…You Can Not Out Give the Universe

I was reading a book by Joe Vitale called, “The Greatest Money Making Secret in History!”, and in it, another author, John Harrichara, who is the author of the second half of the title of this blog post, by the way, was telling the story of how he was really down on his luck and only had $4 with him. He was on his way to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread for his two children.

On the way, he was stopped at a stoplight, and he saw a young man, his young wife, and their child sitting on the grass on the side of the road, and the man had a sign that said, “Will work for food.” It was really a sad sight. It was not only sad seeing them in that situation, but he said it was also sad that he didn’t have some extra money to give to them to help them out. $4 only went so far at the grocery store.

So, after this 30 second interlude, he drove away. But he didn’t get too far before the thought of passing that family and not doing anything got to him, forcing him to turn around and go back to that family. He drove to where he last saw them, and handed the father $2, which was half of what he had.

The young father graciously accepted the money with tears in his eyes. John drove away with a great feeling, knowing that he had helped out someone else who was worse off than he was, even though he now had $2 to shop for himself, and his two young children. I also forgot to mention that John’s young wife had recently passed away.

So he pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, hoping that the milk or the bread, or both, would be on sale, allowing him to buy both for $2. As he got out of the car, his foot slipped on something. He looked down, and it was a $20 bill! He couldn’t believe it. He had given away $2, and the universe compensated him with an amount that was 10X that! He was blown away.

He went into the grocery store and bought not just the bread and milk, but some other desperately needed items. He went back to the family and gave them $5 more. He said he would never forget that incident, and stated that you can not out give the universe, no matter how hard you try. He then quoted a little rhyme:

“A man there was, and they called him mad,
The more he gave, the more he had.

I can attest to this 100%, because I have a story that will not only back this up, but that is even more astounding then the story I just mentioned above. And mind you, when I say astounding, I had nothing to do with it. It was all the workings of the universe.

MY STORY

Some years ago, I was at a gas station in LA getting gas at around 8pm, and this older man in a long wool overcoat came up to me and started talking to me. I’m always a little guarded when people do that, because once before I had a bum ask for some money for a reason that I later found was total BS (the money I gave him was supposed to fix his “problem”, but I saw him giving the same song and dance to someone else a few days later). But I always at least listen to them, if they look like decent people, which he did.

He was probably in his 80’s, and he didn’t have any teeth, which made it really difficult to understand him. He told me his story as I’m pumping gas, and after he was finished, I said, “I’m sorry. What did you say?” He asked me which part I didn’t understand, and I said, “All of it,” which was true. I hadn’t understood a word. He laughed and gave this big, warm, toothless smile, which brought down some of my defenses. I was getting the vibe that this guy was for real.

So he tried again…saying it more slowly, and trying to enunciate more. I was able to get the gist of the story. He was living in the senior home that was right next door, or close to the gas station where we were. He told me that his wife was in the hospital with cancer, and he just wanted to go see her. Oh, right. I forgot to mention that this was during the Christmas season. So it was especially important that he go and see her.

I could feel that he was being very genuine. Very real. Very real, indeed. All he needed was $6…$3 to get him there and then $3 to bring him back to the home via taxi. In LA, the Yellow Cab company have a special discount for seniors where they can go anywhere in the LA area for $3 each way. He told me all of this, by the way, and I believed him.

How could I turn down an older guy who simply wanted to go see his wife, who was dying of cancer, during the holidays. What kind of person would refuse to help out a fellow human being in a situation like that? Not me. So I reached in my pocket and took out my wallet. I counted out $6, and then added one more dollar and said to him, “Here. Here are $6, and then here’s one more for good luck.”

I can not put into words the expression that appeared on his face after I gave him the money. It was as if I had given him $1 million. Smiling ear to ear, he grabbed my hand, and shook it for about 30 seconds, and expressed his immense gratitude, saying some things that I didn’t understand, but I didn’t have to. I knew he was incredibly grateful.

I felt very good after doing that. Incredibly good, actually. I had brought two older love birds together, who didn’t have much time left together. You really can’t put a price on that. They say time is money, but time is more than money…much more.

As you might have guessed, the story does not end there. The very next day (did you get that? I said the very next day), I’m in the bank, walking toward the exit to go back to my car. The doors are glass doors, so I can see right through them, allowing me to see the entire small parking lot in back of the bank where my car is parked.

I see this big ass Cadillac-looking car in the middle of the two rows of cars that comprise the entire parking lot of the bank (again, it’s a small lot). My car is at the end of the row that’s on the left, closest to the bank door that I was walking toward.

The first thing that was a little off was that this car was not headed straight. It was just sitting there, diagonally positioned…with the engine ON. All of a sudden, I start to hear the car’s engine revving really high. Upon hearing this, I intuitively said, “Oh God.”

Seconds after, I hear wheels screeching, and I see his car whip around and slam into the back of my car. But that’s not all that happened. My car then smashed into the next car, which smashed into the next car, which hit the next car. He had created a domino-type accident. With one fell swoop, he managed to damage 4 cars.

So I go outside to see what happened, and an older man, who is around the same age as the guy who I gave money to the previous night, gets out of the car. The poor guy is shaking, and I’m not sure if it’s because he is in shock on account of what just happened, or he has a medical condition. He did have a cane, though.

So he takes out his wallet and gives me his info. You’ll never guess the name of the road where he lives…”Thrasher Road”! Believe that? He just finished “thrashing” 4 cars with one blow! Crazy.

In any case, he gave me his info, and I called his insurance company and made a claim. A week later, I had a check for $4400 in my hands! I found some guys who fixed my car for $900 (it was an older car that I owned years ago), so I was able to keep $3500!

Not only that…the exact spot where he hit my car, it had been hit before. I just hadn’t gotten around to fixing it yet, which means I was paid TWICE for damage done to the same area of my car. Amazing.

So I give an older gentleman $7 which allows him to go and see his wife, who is on her deathbed, during the holidays without expecting anything in return…just wanting to help out a fellow human being in a challenging and sad situation, and another guy around the same age returns the favor and creates a situation that nets me $3500.

Karma never ceases to amaze me. She is truly gifted at what she does.

And as John said, “you can not out give the universe.”

But don’t take Joe’s, John’s, or my word for it. Give it a shot yourself. Find someone who needs help and give it to them with no expectation of anything in return. Do it from the heart and because you want to, and see what happens. You just might be blown away like we were.

If you have actually experienced this and you have a similar story, please share it below in the comments. I’d love to read it, as would everyone else, I’m sure. It will also help inspire others to do the same. Thanks!