Life is an Echo

“Life is an echo. What you send out comes back. What you sow you reap. What you give you get. What you see in others exists in you.”

This is the American way of saying that Karma happens. Echos come back. It’s hard to reap what you didn’t sow. We are all cut of the same cloth. These are just the basic facts of humankind.

The quote starts with something we all know is true. Echos come back, even if they sound a little different. The quote then extends itself by reaching deeper into our experiences. Most of us have probably had a time when a kindness (or the opposite) has come back to us.

The next two (in the longer version) work along similar lines. The final sentence is, to me, the most interesting. It reminds us that we are all family. It also reminds us that both the flaws we see in others, as well as their better qualities, also exist within ourselves.

Why is treating others well important?  
As the saying states, being nice to others has benefits. The most obvious benefit is the good feeling you get when you help someone. Another benefit is what the quote says; do good, and good will come back to you.

Even if you don’t believe in Karma or any kind of “good will piggy bank” to which you deposit and gain interest, consider that the more people out there who treat others well improves your chance of being treated well also.

That’s just the way the math works, right? So whether you believe it or not, there is a sound math and science basis for treating others well. And to me, that’s the fundamental underpinning of this quote, the whole reason it exists.

If everyone went out today and did just one nice thing for another person, odds are that pretty soon someone will treat you well. The more often we treat well, the better off we all are, and that’s the most important part of this quote.

Where can I apply this in my life?
I believe that this quote is about how to live your life. I try to help others when I can, and the results have been pretty good for me. I still have my own life to live, but I believe that I am better off for the things I have done for others.

Since the quote is a series of statements, let’s run through them. The first pair are about the rebounding of echos or return of what you have given out to others. Are the echos you hear yours, or can you learn from the echo of someone else?

Consider that the author of the quote is now naught but an echo. Given that bit of information, it is my guess that not only can you learn from the echo of someone else, you are in the process of doing it right now. Isn’t that something?

The second pair are about what you do and what you get back. Take a moment and consider this concept as both the person giving and as the person receiving.

While I enjoy receiving a kindness from others, I also enjoy doing a kindness to others. Now consider how interesting it can be to observe a kindness pass between other people.

The final line of the quote reminds us that the kindness we see in others also exists within us. We can do the same and be kind to others. It is also a warning to us.

It reminds us that if we see others who are being other than kind, that we could be just as mean, if we are not careful. And I would urge you to remember that anyone you see being unkind is fully able to be kind, under the right circumstances.

We all have a great ability to help, to nurture, and to be kind to others. We also have the ability to be much less than that ideal. What do you want to do? How do you want to behave?

How do you want to be remembered? As the person who treated others well, or one who did not? For in the end, your epitaph is the ultimate echo of your life. What you reap will be based on what you sow.