My father taught me kindness when I was a teenager. We would stop to help people whenever we could. I remember stopping on the side of a 2-lane state highway to help some elderly folks with a flat tire. They were in a truck pulling a camper.

When we finished changing the tire, the older man pulled his wallet out and said, "Let me please offer you some cash for your time and effort to getting us back on the road."

My father, without hesitation, put his hand up to block the man's attempt to give cash, and said, "I cannot accept it. We just help when we can."

The old man and his wife thanked us for the assistance, we went back to our car and hit the road. In the car, my dad told me, "When you are able, you help. When offered recompense, you refuse. When you need help, it will come, and you will offer your money for the assistance."

I asked, "What if they take the money?" to which my father replied, "They earned it for helping."

Then, I asked, "Why we didn't we accept the money from the man?" to which my dad answered, "We have already been helped."

As an adult, I help others when I can, and I never accept any cash. When I've received help, I have always offered cash, and not a single person who helped has ever accepted it. Karma exists because we make it exist.