Every good deed gets rewarded in some way, but then how good a deed really exists if this is true? A good deed is something someone does for another person to help that person out and it is typically implied that it is a selfless act meaning the person doing the favor is not gaining anything from doing the act. However, can this exist if there is always a reward of some kind attached to it?
It’s difficult to find a ‘good deed’ scenario where a trade-off does not take place, no matter how pure one’s heart seems to be. Volunteers get hours and heroes get awards so when is a deed ever truly from a selfless place in one’s heart; likely never. People say those who do acts of kindness get good karma but once those people get rewarded the selflessness within the act vanishes leaving an act that although still good, is no longer as pure. But I think that’s okay. Madison was right when he said humans were no angels, and if we are no angels then we do not need to be pure, as long as we are the most imperfect perfect we can be.
Even the most simple acts such as holding a door open get acknowledged with a ‘thank you’, or just a nice feeling in your chest. Truly nothing good a person does on this earth is ever without some sort of gain no matter how small. But that’s just how life works. You can volunteer for the right reasons and still put it on a college application and you can save a life and accept an award for it with a clear conscience. You can do all these things for the right reasons and still use them to your advantage, as long as you acknowledge it. It’s okay to have good intentions and do good deeds while having a bonus agenda so long as you’re aware of it. We’re humans, not angels. At the end of the day, it is impossible for us to not make our interests top priority, but those who also help others along the way gain so much more in and out of life. Because truly no good deed in this world goes without a reward of some kind.1
