We all like finding money whether it be in our pockets, pressed up against the washing machine door as your clothes are spinning, or in our bank accounts. Some of us even like finding it outside on the ground. When I was younger I never found money; I think I found a £2 coin once and was so happy. Then adulthood hit and my belief system formed. I am not a Christian or any of the other accepted religions of the world, I prefer to think I'm Wren Religion. I don't want to go into the complicated labyrinth of my beliefs in deities but jumping straight to the main pivoting point of my entire life and the one thing that makes my decisions; Karma!
In the most basic definition of the word I have taken Karma to be simply, "what goes around, comes around" or sometimes "do good things and good things will come". I mentioned in my post (soon to be published) about character morality that the reason why I staunchly believe in Karma is my childhood watching Japanese Anime and then my late adolescence and current life watching South Korean dramas. Those cultures are very moral, they indoctrinate their youth with a clear sense of right and wrong from a very early age, obviously mirrored in their TV shows. Like every population there's always outliers (showing my statistics roots there) but for the majority of people in Japan and South Korea they do the right thing; this is proven by the lowest crime rates, and highest reported safety by many foreigners that go over there to live. I heard a story from Simon and Martina (if you haven't heard of them go and check out their blog. They're a couple who have been living in South Korea for years and regularly post videos about life there) that someone lost their wallet in South Korea, they either went to the police station or someone handed it to them and all of the money, credit cards, etc, were still inside.
I never realised how much watching these things when I was younger affected me until my late teens, probably about 17 or 18, maybe even before that. Getting back to the main point of this blog post, money....I mean morality. Whenever I find things that don't belong to me, I hand them in, regardless of what it is, even money.
The first instance of this is when I was at John Knox's house in Edinburgh. I found £40 pounds on the floor and handed it into reception. They took my phone number and thanked me; I thought that was the end of it. A few weeks later they phoned me saying none had claimed the money and did I want to come and pick it up. I was probably about 16 at the time, £40 was a lot of money for me. I told them to donate it to themselves (all heritage sights in Scotland are run by charities). I gave away the money because it wasn't mine to keep. Was it a stupid thing to do? I don't think stupidity really factors into anything to do with morality. Morals are very much based on individual beliefs, and people with none are usually the ones who say what I did was stupid.
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| So it wasn't as fancy as this but still |
It was just lying there, on the stairs where 200 and more people walk. To be honest it hadn't been there on my way up the first time, but on my way down there it was, crumpled and lost. It was impossible to tell who it belonged to. And so began another moral dilemma. Now, I've been having a really Sh** week this week, my attempts at buying a new pair of glasses that actually fit me has left me out of pocket by more money than I'd care to admit (and no matter how many times they're adjusted they're still not right), and it's a coursework week which means stress with some more stress on the side. I was on my way to the reception, and when I picked it up I did think about handing it in, but then I thought, what were they going to do with it? There are 600+ people living in my building. They would most likely keep it for a week and then if no one claimed it keep it themselves. Yes, someone could have asked but that's not British is it? We accept that if we lose money someone is going to take it. Peeps, today I was that person, today, I was British, or more specifically, Scottish. I was like any other person I know whose belief system is "finders keepers".
This is the question, was taking that £10 bad karma? I have never kept money in the two instances before this. Why during such a bad week did I find the money? Coincidence would be what a rational person, and probably I, should say, but I am also a writer and I like to believe in more than that. I was having a bad week, am having a bad week, and finding that £10 did cheer me up, before the onslaught of Karma worrying came. I will admit, my belief system broke down a little bit, but don't they all? I don't feel guilty about picking it up, after writing this post I do feel slightly guilty about keeping it, but aren't people permitted strays from their beliefs?
Some of you may think I'm contemplating this too much, it was only £10 after all, but for some people that could be something important. Maybe it was just the fall-out from someone else's bad week (yes, pun intended). It brightened up my week a little and has some new friends in my purse instead of being abandoned on the stairs with no one. On the other hand, at least it came to me and inspired me to entertain people with this post, and at least I actually thought about doing the moral thing whereas most of the other people here would have snatched it without another thought on the matter.
What do you think? To much contemplation or the foundations of future bad karma?
