Unconditional random acts of kindness
Unconditional random acts of kindness make the giver and the recipient feel good.
A friend and I were enjoying a nice dinner at a fine restaurant one evening. We looked across the restaurant and saw a young couple hand in hand enjoying a good conversation and holding hands. They looked a little out of place or overwhelmed. My friend called over the waiter and told him to send a good bottle of Champagne to them, “and don’t tell them where it came from, just tell them to enjoy it” he said. They never found out the anonymous benefactor but we all enjoyed the feeling.
Imagine buying a coffee at Blenz or Starbucks and paying for the person behind you, buying a sandwich for the homeless person you passed on the way to work, or giving a rose to the cashier at your local grocery just because you could.
Roger Ebert in his review of the movie wrote that in the real world, altruism is less powerful than selfishness, greed, nepotism, or paranoia. If you have any doubt look at the front pages – Can an idea change the way people behave in this world or do you need something more tangible than an idea?
The term “pay it forward” was coined, or at least popularized, by Robert A. Heinlein in his book Between Planets, published in 1951:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward
What is Pay It Forward?
Pay It Forward is a book written by Catherine Ryan Hyde, but it’s also an idea. It’s an action plan within a work of fiction. But does it have to be fiction? We’re hoping not. In fact, since the book was released in January of 2000, a real-life social movement has emerged, not just in the U.S. but worldwide. What began as a work of fiction has already become much more.
How Can I Pay It Forward?
The premise of the novel (and later the movie) Pay It Forward is one that any person can implement in his or her own life, at any time. It begins with doing a favor for another person ~ without any expectation of being paid back. Indeed one would request that the recipient of that favor do the same for someone else ~ ideally, for three other people. The unconditional favors can be large or small.
