Of speeding tickets and karma

So, I'm a big believer in karma.  I don't consider myself a religious person, but I believe in the Golden Rule and all that goes along with that.  Lately, I've felt like my karma has been a bit out of whack.  Yesterday I got a speeding ticket, my first one in two years.  For those of you who know me well, that's a pretty long time.  Especially considering my tendency to drive at least 15 miles per hour over the speed limit.  I guess it was due time.  Or was it?  I think it was karma's way of telling me that I need to do a little better.

I go to Starbucks at least twice a week on my way to work.  It is a well known fact among friends that I am not a morning person and that when forced to be up before noon, I better have some coffee.  So this morning, being in a particularly good mood (at least for me in the morning), I decided to do something to increase my good karma.  Let me preface this by saying that what I did was completely selfish, but it benefited someone else, so...  This morning while paying for my Starbucks, I decided to pay for the person in the car behind me's coffee as well.  Someone did this for me a few years ago and I was so blown away, I didn't think to pay it forward and get the person behind me's drink.  I drove away from that Starbucks completely floored by the generosity of a stranger and mad at myself that I didn't automatically think to do the same.  When I thought about it this morning, I decided it was a way past due gesture that needed to be done.

I'm not going to lie, doing something good for others can be selfish.  It makes me feel great.  I'm always reminded of the episode of Friends where Phoebe tries to find a completely selfless good deed and can't.  But I try to look past the selfishness of it and take it as a step towards a better humanity.  So that's what I did for my karma this morning.  It put me in a great mood, and I'm hoping that it sets the tone for the weekend.

In other news, I'll be leaving work early today to head back to my alma mater, UK, for my orientation as a returning student!  I'm starting classes in August in order to complete a second undergraduate degree, this time in accounting.  It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm excited to be a student again.  Someone please remind me of that when I'm studying over the weekend and not out playing because I'm sure I'm going to complain.  I'm excited for what this new chapter of my life might lead to and I'm excited to obtain a piece of paper stating that I have the qualifications that go along with my job title.  So here's to a great weekend and no more speeding tickets!

Thank god for caffeine...I wouldn't be human without it.  That's a direct quote from an ex boyfriend that complained about how grumpy I am in the mornings.  I told him that he had been warned.