Life can be confusing, especially when you are young. And for me, I wasn’t the type to make the right decisions because a lot of times I did things without thinking. Now this situation appeared last year, when I was faced with a difficult decision. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was faced with a few options; take the money, or do the right thing. And especially during this situation, It was hard to do the right thing, Especially with all of the cash I could have had.
It was around the end of 8th grade when the season was transitioning into summer and the breeze was one of a warm tropical hawaiian day. You could feel it in the air, and in those around you, the excitement that everybody emits because of the arrival of summer. I myself, was very excited that in a few weeks, I would be free from school for a few months, Which meant I could sleep in and go out and do the thing I most enjoyed; Fishing.
I don’t remember the exact day or week that this happened, but I remember clearly what happened. I could look back to this day and look through what happened as if the day was transparent like a piece of glass. It was in the morning, It was still cool and breezy. I walked to the basketball court after putting my stuff away in my locker, and I started to play basketball with some friends. After playing for about 5 mins, I stood on the side of the court and took a break because I was waiting for my friend. But, here is when I was presented with a choice that could forever make me feel guilty. A kid was running around or doing something at the side of the court; probably was fooling around like a 5 year old, but at first I didn’t notice anything. But, eventually, I realised my shoe was untied, so I bent down and tied my shoe, and while doing so, I saw a leather wallet drop from this kids pocket. No one saw it. It was almost as if it didn’t happened. No one realised but me, So I picked it up, and out of curiosity, I opened it. There were at least 3 one hundred dollar bills and some twenties in there. And then my mind started to race back and forth.
I didn’t know what to do, I had saw who had dropped it, but he still wasn’t paying attention. I was contemplating keeping it and walking away, but even thinking about that I felt disgusted for a few reasons. One reason is I wouldn’t like it if someone stole money from me, and secondly, his parents might get angry and blame it on him, and lastly, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life. So after running these thoughts through my mind, I walked over to him, tapped him on the shoulder and told him he dropped his wallet. I then gave it back, and he seemed to happy and relieved that he got his wallet back. The feeling is way better than stealing money.
If I were to steal the money, I would get instant gratification of money and then I would feel guilty, but instead I did the right thing and gave it back and it makes you feel a whole lot better doing the right thing. When I did the right thing I didn’t have to worry about getting in trouble if they found out or feeling super guilty for stealing some kids money. Doing good creates a positive feeling that manifests in you and makes you want to do more good for the world. And the way I like to think of it is that an act of kindness can create and endless ripple. I mean sure, having money is wonderful, but not when you steal it. And this makes me think to myself about the crazy things people would do for money; they would steal, hurt people, separate their family, and many other crazy things just for money, when in reality money can’t buy everything. Money can’t buy a life back of someone you love who has passed away, money can’t make magically heal you if you’re sick, and money can’t give you true happiness. It is just an instant gratification that plays a role as happiness for a short time, but never really gives you true happiness. Happiness is something you must find within yourself.
So with that being said, I am glad to this day I did the right thing. And ever since then, I have been doing the right thing whenever I was faced with a situation like that, and trust me, it makes a world difference when you do the right thing. You won’t feel guilty, and you will feel much better that you didn’t ruined someone’s day, or even life. So, go out and do the right thing, because an act of kindness creates an endless ripple.
