Do you remember the movie, Pay It Forward? It came out a few years ago in the movie theaters and it made quite an impression on me. Today, while standing in a retail store's checkout line, I had an opportunity to use, the pay it forward principle. Here's my story:
A middle-aged woman, asked me if she could cut in the check out line to ask the clerk to hold some items for her until the next day. She added that she had been waiting in line for over 15 minutes and had to leave to go somewhere. Without any hesitation, I told her that she could go ahead of me. When the woman explained her situation to the clerk and said that she would be back tomorrow to pick the items up, I quickly turned to the woman, and told her it was ok if she wanted to purchase her items right then and there. She looked at me rather shocked and surprised, and said that was a reallly nice thing to do. Then she added that it would be really great if more people in the world were like that. I responded with a suggestion for her to, "pay it forward", and she smiled and responded that she would. Before exiting the store, the woman talked about the movie, "Pay It Forward", and how great it was. Then she picked up her bag, smiled at me again and said in a loud strong voice, "thank you again and I will pay it forward".
Who knows...
Was I able to make someone's day a little easier, by doing a simple, small act of kindness?
Will she even remember to pay it forward?
Will the ripple effect take off on this?
Do any of these questions really matter?
In some small way, I hope the reminder to use the principles from pay it forward, is something you might considering doing. Why? Because you'll feel good when you do something nice for someone else, even to a stranger. Aferall, all the little things in life do make a difference!
Many Blessings, Pat :)
Note: If you haven't seen the movie, "Pay It Forward", you might want to. It's one you won't want to miss!
Pat, thanks for the great example of paying it forward. I'd forgotten about that message-movie. I look at things like that also as "random acts of kindness," which just happen to multiply into a kinder, gentler world. It's fun to sometimes do them in secret, too, and watch the reaction from the sidelines. Even that can make you feel tingly inside. I wish I could quote the Bible better, but there is a quote from Jesus about doing something for someone and not telling the world about it. (I believe Kay mentioned it in her talk on Sunday.) Once I helped someone out of a jam in a public place. My Dad happened to be a witness, and bragged on me to his buddies. I was a little embarassed, wanting to keep it quiet. Passing on the blessings we receive definitely makes the world a happier, fun place to be. If we have a chance to do something nice and brighten someone's day, we should go for it!
Posted by: Pam | May 29, 2007 at 07:32 PM