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There is an expression that says, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

It is usually delivered with a knowing smile, as though everyone eventually learns the same lesson, help someone, and somehow end up paying for it.

I have experienced it myself. You do something good, and then something unpleasant happens.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with what you did. Perhaps that is the point. Maybe every good deed followed by an unfortunate event is not punishment at all.

Maybe it is a test of testament, a test of whether your resolve is as strong as your conviction. It is easy to believe in kindness when kindness produces appreciation, gratitude, or reward.

It becomes considerably harder when doing the right thing produces inconvenience, disappointment, or even personal loss.

That is where conviction is tested.

Do you continue doing what you believe is right when there is no guarantee of a favourable outcome? Perhaps good deeds are not transactions.

We do not do good because we are guaranteed something good in return. We do good because it reflects who we believe we are. Maybe the real punishment is believing that goodness should always be rewarded and perhaps the real testament is continuing to do good when it isn't because sometimes, the question is not whether your good deed was punished.

It is whether the consequence was enough to make you abandon the person you believe yourself to be.