Paying It Forward: an (A)musing

"Paying it Forward"  

I was thinking about that action/philosophy this morning, especially in regards to my former neighbor & her caretaker.

Every-single-one of her caretakers, except the one referred to above, all quit due to abuse & control....

The one who stayed was the "christian" one, from her church who was working for free... She explained to me: "Oh I hate this job, and she's crazy. I'm doing this only to 'pay it forward', in hopes that it will come back to me"

The last sentence is the reason I have a problem w/ the often  misinterpreted "Pay-it-Forward" philosophy.....

It is often incorrectly believed, one is paying forward a kindness to another in need solely for the purpose of paying into their Good Karma Account...

That smacks of self-serving selfishness. One isn't doing good from their heart, for the highest good, without expectations of return. One expects an eventual return.

"Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor." 

You do good out of love and compassion with the hopes that it will be passed on to others... Not out of fear for the eventuality of need for yourself