As a kid, I always wondered what the phrase "What goes around, comes around" really meant. I had never heard about karma or realized that my actions today could have an effect on my well-being in the future. I always thought what was done, was done, and that was that.

Now that I'm all grown up (not by choice!), I've come to realize that karma really does exist. Good deeds don't go unnoticed and they actually do end up coming back to you in some way. The same goes for bad. The secret though is not to expect anything. If you do something good for someone expecting something in return, chances are you wont get it. Karma has its own way of giving back and if you are busy looking for something specific, you'll miss out.

During my second year of college, I was backing out of a parking space in a grocery store parking lot. I'm not sure how it happened, I was probably distracted or fiddling with the radio, but I backed right into a parked car. I immediately got a sinking feeling in my stomach and started panicking about the damage I had done. I got out of my car and saw that my bumper was dented and scratched and the other car (an expensive BMW) barely had a mark on it. I also realized that nobody was around nor had anyone seen me hit the car.

This was a defining moment for me because I very easily could have taken off and left the car owner (who surely had more money than me, a poor college student) to deal with it. Instead I chose to leave my name and number along with an apology for hitting their car. I spent the next couple of days crossing my fingers that the person would lose my number and never call, but sure enough, the phone rang. To make a longer story shorter, the small mark on the BMW ended up costing me almost $1000 and after all was said and done, I wasn't so sure that leaving that note was the best idea.

About 5 years after the BMW debacle, I was living in Los Angeles on a street lined with apartment buildings. I walked out to my car and immediately noticed that the side was crunched in and that someone must have backed into it. That sinking feeling that I had felt in my stomach instantly returned and I started to panic about how much it was going to cost to fix my car. When I got close enough, I noticed a little piece of paper on my winshield. It was a note from the person who hit me! Instantly I was relieved and remembered the note I had left 5 years earlier. That's when it hit me...it wasn't a coincidence that probably the only person in LA that would consider leaving a note was the one who backed into my car. It was good karma being returned!