You get what you give

I do believe the statement in the subject line is nearly always true.  Whether you call it karma or payback, what you throw out into the universe usually comes back to you.  That includes negative output as well as positive.  

Some real life examples of this in action:

• I was asked at the last minute to provide coverage for another agent’s closing (a few hours before the closing started).  I wasn’t able to help, so I turned down the request before I knew who actually needed the closing coverage.  And when I saw the person’s name, I realized I would have wanted to say no, even if I was available. This agent has only spoken to me once in the last six months.  The agent passes me in the hall and just continues on. The only time I was spoken to was when I was asked to go into the next room to log this agent off a computer.  Huh? This simply isn’t the type of person  I’m going to drop everything for, change my plans around, and rush off to a closing on a transaction I know nothing about.  This person doesn’t give and therefore doesn’t get.

• In another real-life case, a relatively new listing agent was trying to get assistance coming up with a good market value for a particularly unique property. After asking a few people for assistance unsuccessfully, a more experienced agent not only offered help (at no charge), but offered to accompany the newer agent to the property to get a first hand look. After several other helpful actions on the part of the more experienced agent, the listing agent offered to co-list the property.  In this case, the experienced agent was giving, and received in return.

• And yet another example.  A person who is upbeat, has a great smile and sense of humor and who gives to her community and others was going through a rough time.  One person found out about the difficult situation, and then another.  And before you could say abracadabra, people were chipping in, however they could, to help the person in need.  This person has given, and was receiving back.

• And then there is the giving of laughter.  I saw a video recently that was taken on a subway in a European country. One lady was looking down at her phone and she started giggling to herself, then laughing out loud.  Big huge laughter that was infectious.  Well, before you knew it, that entire subway car of cranky and tired people were laughing.  All of them.  Uncontrollable laughter, with some of them wiping away tears.  None of them could have told you why they were laughing, they just were.  That first lady gave laughter, and not only did she get it back in spades, but all those people would probably start cracking up at odd times for the rest of the day, giving laughter to others.

So when someone does something negative to me or to other people I know, I just smile. Eventually, somehow, those vibes will zip around the universe and eventually revisit that person.  It’s simply not worth getting too upset over someone else’s negativity because the only person they are really hurting is themselves.

And on that note, I’m off to send off some good vibes.