Random Acts of Kindness
An interesting thing happened to me and my husband a few months ago while we were at dinner. We had finished eating, and our server came over to our table and told us that our meal had been paid for by someone in the restaurant. We were shocked to say the least. This never happened to us before, and while we were pleasantly surprised, we couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Twenty years ago we would have been thrilled, and not given this a second thought. But now we are living comfortably and I guess that’s where the guilt comes into play. We promised ourselves that we would pay it forward and we were finally able to do it last week.
The pay it forward movement has grown in popularity over the past twenty years mainly because of the book turned major motion picture with the same name; the phrase pay it forward can be found in a novel by Lily Hardy Hammond, titled Garden of Delight, published all the way back in 1916. So while the idea is not new, it’s nice that there has been a resurgence of the idea and a movement to go along with it that still exists today. Many of you have heard stories about the person in the Starbucks drive-through paying for a stranger’s order, or someone anonymously taking care of the holiday presents on layaway at your local Walmart. These stories always give me the warm and fuzzies.
I believe that this kind of generosity and kindness begins at home. One person who has always taught me to be kind is my dad. He never actually came out and said it, but he definitely led by example. He has a gentle demeanor, and is always willing to help in any way that he can. I absolutely pushed the boundaries and tested his patience as a teenager, and if I’m being honest, into my twenties as well. He has never held any of that against me, and is the first to compliment me on the successes I’ve had. I try to do the same with my own kids. I hope at the end of the day if you’ve had an interaction with any one of them, it has been a pleasant one. I don’t think you can ever go wrong if you’re kind.
Back to my original story. We were out to dinner again, and the waiter brought the wrong bill to our table. He brought the bill for the table next to us, but since we were sitting in a booth, we couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see us. Perfect! I know we were probably overthinking it, but it’s hard to just pick someone randomly and pay for their groceries or their dinner or whatever. It felt good that we didn’t know who they were, and they would never know who we were.
April 28th is Worldwide Pay It Forward Day. I know it’s pretty far away, but since it took us a couple months to figure out how to pay it forward, I thought I would give you advance notice. If you’ve never done anything like this, why not try it this year? It doesn’t have to be something extravagant, but a little gesture can go a long way. Imagine if your random act of kindness was the difference between someone having a good day and someone having a terrible day… trust me, it’s a gift worth giving.
