You’ve no doubt heard about “Pay It Forward”, right? Released back in 2000, “Pay It Forward” is a film that tells the story of a young boy trying to make this world a better place by performing three random acts of kindness, and asking each recipient to essentially “pay it forward” by performing three additional acts of kindness, and so on so forth. For the month of September, Camden has adopted the random acts of kindness idea and tasked each of its employees to venture out into the world and “be good people”. I loved the idea! Thus began the rekindled “Pay It Forward” movement (at least for Camden anyhow)!
“Pay It Forward” Amateur Sketch by Laci Coker from Camden Farmers Market
Personally speaking, there’s no better feeling in the world than knowing you’ve impacted someone in their life in a positive manner. Throughout the month of September, I made a conscious decision to help anyone in need. Did someone need an extra dollar to pay for their lunch? BAM! Dollar gifted. Did a resident need help fitting a monstrously large package into their comically small car? POW! Package secured. Did someone need help putting away a huge stack of papers? BOOM! Papers filed. I was on a roll and had no intention of slowing down. If there was an opportunity to influence someone’s life for the better, I was there. Kindness given felt greater than kindness received.
One act of kindness in particular, however, turned my whole world upside down. As I was walking by the front door of my leasing office, I noticed an older man en route to come in. I stopped and opened the door for him, with a smile and a “Hey, how’s it going?” He turned to me, smiled and said “That has been the best thing that has happened to me all day, thank you”. The words rang in my ears and truly reached me deep down and gave me the most heartwarming feeling I’d felt in a long time. The heartwarming feeling didn’t last long. Once I understood what he said, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought to myself, “What kind of world do we live in, where such a small good deed is the highlight of someone’s life?” I was…genuinely upset. Such a bittersweet roller coaster of emotions coursed through my being and I couldn’t shake them off until I went to bed that night.
The morning after, I came to a conclusion: Paying it forward shouldn’t be a fad or company-mandated event. Paying it forward should be a way of life, and truly, not called paying it forward. Paying implies you owe someone something, sometimes not being particularly happy that you have to “pay”. Though the general idea and reasoning is sound and beneficial, I think perhaps it is merely a preliminary stage that will develop into something much bigger and impactful. Instead of paying, why not just be? Stop paying and repaying; start being a good person and doing what’s right. That, my friends, is my new motto.
Well said Sergio! I had a similar experience, except I was on the receiving end… It had been a long and awful day and I had to stop at the grocery store for a few needed items on my way home. I really didn’t want to battle the crowd after battling traffic, I just wanted to be home! I had a gallon of milk, an industrial sized jug of coffee creamer and an equally large container of coffee grounds (my fault for not grabbing a basket). Anyway, I went to the shortest line I could find and the gentleman in front of me had about two dozen items on the conveyor belt. He saw me struggling to set these things down while trying not to drop my purse and he was so nice, he offered his spot in line to me and let me go ahead of him. It was LITERALLY the best thing that had happened to me all day and truly a lost courtesy in the grocery line. It was just such a great feeling and I’m sure my abundance of thank you’s made me come across as strange, but I couldn’t have shown him enough appreciation!!
I read a great story not too long ago about a lady who spent her whole birthday doing just THAT…my birthday was nearing, so I chose to do the same…best birthday ever. On the fast track of life, it feels great to slow down and give to someone else…great blog, thanks!
Beautiful and true – thank you for going there!
Randoms Acts of Kindness – Great blog Sergio! Myself and several others were a part of Patti’s celebration and we “repayed it forward” for her birthday gift. Best part that I observed was the people I shared my story with also did random acts of kindness weeks later. My mother being one….Thanks for sharing!