Have you ever heard of the phrase paying it forward? I first learned about this 2 years ago, when my daughter and I were at a toll booth about to pay and the ticket-taker person said it was paid already by the car that just pulled off. I was in awe, felt God had personally Blessed me, and smiled the whole rest of the trip.
The next Sunday in church the Pastor happened to be preaching on Christian values and behaviors and brought up this same phrase. He said that it is our responsibility to pay it forward when we are Blessed. It doesn’t have to be about money, it could be just complimenting someone, saying hello and asking how they are doing, helping someone open a door who has a bag full of packages, or giving a sandwich to a homeless person.
The pastor’s pay it forward story was about an elderly couple having dinner at a local Chilis next to him and his wife, and they told the waitress to give them their tab to pay anonymously. They wanted no recognition, just to see the smiles on their faces was enough.
Ever since then, I have become more vigilant in my pay it forwards. I want to not only thank Christ for how he blesses me everyday, but also want to show other what it means to be Christ-like. He is selfless, kind, giving, forgiving and humble. Do you pay it forward? If so, how do you like to pass the love and goodness of your life onto others?
What do you think of the Free Hugs Project (https://www.facebook.com/FreeHugsProject/) that is going on around the country? Would you consider that paying it forward?
My daughter learned about paying it forward in a kindness project at school, she came up with her own idea of writing nice notes and giving them out to people we passed in the street. She wrote things like “you are awesome” and “lots of people love you” I was so impressed with her kindness, and it was heartwarming to see people open the note and look so touched!
It only takes a few words. What do you think of the Hugs Project?
I think it’s a nice idea, lots of people, especially the elderly, don’t get enough physical contact from others, but personally I don’t think I would want to hug someone I didn’t know- that would be a boundary issue for me, but we definitely need more love at the moment!
Thanks for your honesty. I can imagine a lot of people would feel that way. I’m a germophobe myself. lol
I only like to be physically close to those that I feel close to. I can’t imagine hugging someone I just met. It’s not because of the germs, it’s more of a personal space issue for me. I am the type of person that gets anxious when someone gets too close to me on an elevator. (LOL!)
Someone bought my coffee last week, I was having a bad day and as I pulled forward in the drive through the cashier said the person in front paid for me I could have cried, it was just what I needed.
Later in the week I went to the dollar store and bought a tonne of cosmetics and made a basket for the ladies bathroom at work, everyone has been talking about it and saying that an angel left it!! I just keep real quiet!
I love that! Keep paying it forward!
That’s the thing though you do have to keep it going or it dies-gotta keep the momentum! 🙂
Great idea about the basket of makeup! I think the way to my coworker’s hearts is bringing in food. The workplace is a great spot to ‘pay it forward.’ After all, they are the people you have to spend a lot of time around. If you can bring a simple joy to your office, then that’s the way to go.
I had a coworker tell me one time that she gave herself challenge when ‘paying it forward.’ She said that she decided to bake a cake and give it to the one person that she had a hard time dealing with. She said it was easy to almost talk herself out of it, but in the end, she was happy that she did it. It actually brought a smile to the coworkers face and they were really touched by this simple act.
How about you? Could you ‘pay it forward’ to someone you didn’t really care for?
I love the free hugs project, such a powerful and loving response to so much grief and destruction in our world of late- I am a big fan of this approach!
Hearing “Pay it forward” always puts a smile on my face. It’s a contagious act once its gets started, and I think most people really enjoy giving something back in return.
Here is a little “pay it forward” story…
My husband and I went to one of favorite restaurants one night where the manager was also our waitress. She was always very nice to us, and she knew how much we loved this restaurant (Italian of course). When she brought us our bill, my husband looked confused by it. I immediately thought, “oh no, my coffee was more than expected.” He looked up at me and said, “We don’t have anything to pay.” I was in shock, but was really touched by this gesture. We stopped her and thanked her for taking care of our bill. Her reply was, “it’s nice to serve nice people.”
I have never forgotten her words to this day. Every time my husband and I go to the restaurant now we make sure to leave a nice tip for all the waiters/waitresses since it’s always a pleasure to go there. We also make sure to give this restaurant a lot of our business because they take such good care of us when we go. They made us remember why we like it so much, and to ‘pay it forward’ when we can.
It sounds like just what this world needs. The world I know now has lost it’s humanity, respect, and religion. With all this police stuff going on, hugs and love is definitely what we need. People need to know whats going on in this world. Social and political wise. I wasn’t around when police officers were kind but I do want to go back to that time. What happened to respect and protecting people, the citizens of america?