Yesterday I went to the ATM at my bank to withdraw some cash. When I put my card in, I realized that someone had left a large amount of cash in the machine… I was $500! I took the money inside and handed it to the manager. The manager asked me, “What do you expect me to do with it?”. I told him to find out who was at the ATM before me, so he could return it to the person’s account. I left the bank, satisfied that I had done all that I could.

Today, I received a phone call from the bank manager. He had found the owner of the money, and she had a surprise for me... It was 92 year old Edith, who had taken out the money to pay her rent. But after she took her receipt, she forgot to take the cash out of the ATM. Her rent came to $480 and so as a thank you she wanted me to have the rest. It turned out though, that $20 was all she had for the rest of the month to live on.

So I refused to take it. I couldn’t stop thinking about Edith and her vulnerability, though. How poor she must be, but how generous at the same time! Finally, I decided to call the bank manager back. I told him to transfer $200 from my account into Edith’s. Another bank employee overheard my request and decides to chip in another $100. A little while later, I received another phone call from the bank. The staff had pulled together and come up with another $300 for Edith! I couldn’t believe it. How wonderful!

My one act of honestly inspired an incredible act of generosity from one little old lady…, and that generosity snowballed into more and more generous donations in return. It doesn’t matter how much we have to give, however big or small, true generosity always returns positivity to our lives. Give with your whole self, Love with your whole heart, and your life will be full of happiness. One small step, one small act will create a ripple. You may not always see its effect from to the middle of the pond, but it’s there. Drop some love, some laughter, or some kindness into the water and see what happens…

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