March 19, 2025

Compound Interest

By Steve Gwisdalla

Originally Published 3/20/2025

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. This is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to on to victories you never dreamed of.”
-C. S. Lewis

This could be my new favorite new, old quote. C.S. Lewis certainly in the Tribe of Up. I have often spoken of emotional bank accounts and paying good deeds forward with the interest you acquire. But Mr. Lewis nailed the way I view life. I cannot believe I have lived fifty…. well, never you mind the number, but all my years not knowing this quote existed until today. Here is how I found it.

I have long believed that if you intake garbage, you will expel garbage. “Garbage in, garbage out.” This is certainly true when it comes to dieting. But it is also absolutely true when it comes to our emotional and spiritual health as well. If all we ever ‘consume’ is negative news, polarizing commentary, and murder whodunits (I admit I am guilty of enjoying a good Dateline or 20/20 as much as the next person) then how can we find and then ultimately advocate for more joy in our lives? How can we, as Mr. Lewis says find “The smallest good” when all we are feeding ourselves is bad?

With all that in mind, I find websites that offer positive messages, I listen to blogs who are uplifting and offer no biased opinions. I pray. Often and hard. It is then that I start to find beauty in this world. When I am skewed by binging 48 Hours episodes or get stuck in the rut of watching too many political commentary pieces online, I can look out the same window and only see the shadows. When I do the positivity exercises, I see the trees swaying, the birds flying from tree to tree, the occasional deer or turkey strolling by and I smile. My soul smiles. Good and evil compete for us, my friends. I choose to seek good and fight evil. The good I seek, appreciate, and am inspired by to write to you each week does indeed compound as Mr. Lewis states. Victories are not to be confused with ignorance. I do not ignore what is going on in the world. I am very aware of current events. When I make deposits into my emotional bank account daily, it affords me the currency to dip my toe into the water of the news and current events.

What about you? Are you seeing good things? Are you finding beauty? Are you actively and aggressively seeking it out? Or are you letting the evil Mr. Lewis speaks about guide you where it wants you to go? In the Tribe of Up, we surround ourselves with people who look to find good and then do good whenever possible. We try to pay the world forward, one small act at a time. One smile at a time. There is a question that drives me in this quest. It is a question that is both sobering and inspiring.

Or what?

What if we chose not to seek out good or beauty? What if we made the choice not to be nice for its own sake? To be honest, I am not sure I would want to exist in that world. And so we in the Tribe of Up happily trudge on. Wonder Warriors. Seeking to not only find wonder but spread it whenever we can. I do not ask someone about their political affiliation before deciding to hold a door or let someone merge in traffic. I simply do it. I do it because the currency it pays me is formidable. My smile is genuine, and I simply love to see other people do such things. Wonder Warriors are sought. Are you one? C. S. Lewis sure seems to have been.

Steve is a Dexter resident, and the Owner, President, Vice President of Emotional Finance and Senior Wonder Warrior at Better Place Consulting, a personal, career and happiness coaching firm. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.