Pay It Forward Every Day!

Last night on the way home from work, I was thinking about what I would write as my next blog. Someone on the radio mentioned "Pay It Forward". At that moment I realized it was the second time in the day I had heard that phrase. To me that's a sign! I believe in signs, so I knew that's what I needed to write about.


If you haven't heard of "Pay It Forward", please, please, please rent the movie! I had never heard of it either until I happened to catch the movie on TV about two years ago. Great movie, great idea! The next day I made a point to do at least three good deeds for people, AND I emailed ALL of my friends and family and encouraged them to do the same.


Ok, if you still don't know what "Pay It Forward" means, here it is. You do a good deed for three people and in return you request they do a good deed for three others to keep the cycle going.


There is actually a "Pay It Forward" Day that was proclaimed last year on April 4th, 2008. I'm assuming it will be repeated each year.


But I say, why wait for one day a year? Why not try EVERY DAY to do at least one good deed for someone? It can be as simple as sharing a smile. Do you realize how contagious a smile is? Try it out one day. When I'm out and about I make a point to look people in the eye and smile. The percentage of people that smile back is probably 10 to 1. And I believe it's scientifically proven that a smile can actually boost your mood instantly!


You can Google the phrase and find out more information about this, but here are some more ideas for helping others:


* Pay a toll for the car behind you
* Buy lunch for the person behind you
* Buy food vouchers for a homeless person
* Go grocery shopping for an elderly neighbor
* Give your child extra snacks to share at lunch with a hungry child
* Take extra clothes, blankets, coats to homeless shelters
* Donate your time to a homeless shelter or nursing home
* Open a door for someone else
* Wash someone's car
* Pick up a piece of trash and throw it in a trash bin.
(Good deed for the community as a whole)
* Clean up an empty lot in your neighborhood
* Mow someone's lawn for free
*And since the holidays are here, donate to the local food bank,
and/or buy a gift for a needy child and donate it to Toys for Tots
or the Angel Tree that is set up inside many stores

During Christmas a couple years ago, my family and I collected money from family, friends and coworkers to donate to a place called The Childrens Village in Orlando, FL. It is a home for foster children who have aged out of the foster system and no longer receive funds from the government to help with their support. These children were still in high school so they were unable to support themselves unless they quit school and went to work! Fortunately, due to the support of an organization called Intervention Services and help from many in the community, these children were given a home to stay in for free while they finished school and could continue to stay after graduation until they were independent enough to support themselves.


With the money we collected ($1000!!!) we bought gift cards from Walmart so they could buy school supplies, clothes and food. Grocery store gift cards were donated, as well as a Honey Baked Ham. It was very moving to visit these children on Christmas Eve and present these donations to them personally. The children were very grateful and a few weeks later, all who donated received "thank you" cards from all the children. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to give to others in need!

There are so many things that you can do to help others! It's not only rewarding and fun, but it shows others that they are loved and there really are compassionate people that exist in this world!


So what are you waiting for? Why not start now? Call your mom or dad, best friend, husband, wife or child and tell them you love them. That's a great way to start!


Keep the cycle going and someday it may come back to you!


Today's quote: "Nothing is too much trouble for love"
Desmond Tutu in "Believe: The Words and Inspirations of Desmond Tutu"

Getting My Mojo

As you can see by this being my second post, I'm a new blogger. Why did I decide to start blogging you ask? Well, I love to write. If I could hook wires to my brain that would relay my thoughts to a computer without even having to speak, that would be the invention of the century! Unfortunately, I don't think that concept is a reality yet and, even more unfortunate, is the fact that I actually do most of my writing in my head.....while I'm driving. Well, that would really be thinking wouldn't it? Anyway, what I mean is, thoughts that I want to write, things that inspire my creative thinking happen at the most inopportune times when I can't sit down with pen and paper....or computer and keyboard. So a lot of my writings sadly disappear just as easily as my morning coffee. Grrr. I have grabbed a pen and paper at times when I'm sitting at a stop light, to write some quick thoughts. I will carry these notes in to work, or home, with me and actually follow through with the writing process. So many ideas have slipped away because of my lack of eight arms and two heads to drive and write at the same time. Until I grow more appendages, or someone finally invents the brainwave reader/scanner/copier/fax, I will work harder to write quick notes at every stop light.

So if you happen to have found my blog, bear with me while I continue to work on this new project of mine...and get the flow of my mojo going. I hope you will enjoy my thoughts, my stories and my inspirations. If you do, let me know. If I made you smile, let me know. Your thoughts, comments, advice and personal inspirations are welcome!

That said.....

I would like to share a few quotes from a book I was reading yesterday that I really like. The book is called "Peace: The Words and Inspirations of Mahatma Gandhi" published by Blue Mountain Press. There are four books in the series and I will name each book in a different blog as I read them and quote from them.

"The only way we can ever be human is together. The only way we can be free is together." A comment made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu about Mahatma Gandhi describing Gandhi's ubuntu. Ubuntu is an African term used to describe ones actions toward their fellow human being, such as kindness, compassion, generosity, doing unto others.

The following are quotes by Mahatma Gandhi:

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes"

"No matter how insignificant the thing you have to do, do it as well as you can, give it as much of your care and attention as you would give to the thing you regard as most important. For it will be by those small things that you shall be judged"

These quotes stood out and spoke to me. There are many more quotes in this book, as well as a short biography about Gandhi's life. It's worth the read. Check it out and see what other quotes might inspire you.

Thanks for reading and Have a Happy Day!

Inspired to Write - Day 1

I try hard every day to find something to inspire me. The world is not, and has never been, an easy place to live. No matter where we live, no matter who we are, no matter what we do for a living. It's been that way since the beginning of time. There will always be trials and tribulations. We can go thru life looking at all the bad things and wish we didn't have to get out of bed in the morning. And go thru each day feeling miserable and sorry for ourselves. I know this from experience. Sad but true. But I chose, as I hope to inspire others to do, to wake up knowing and believing how blessed I am to be given another day of life to be with the people I love, and to be given another day to experience what each day has to offer. Some days may not be so good. But I choose to learn from that experience, and most importantly, to allow myself to let it go and become the past. Because I know tomorrow will be a better day, a new and different experience.

When I wake up and see my cat sleeping happily on my warm comfortable bed, it makes me smile, knowing he is happy, and I have given him that happiness. It may sound small and insignificant, but to him it's not. I walk out the door every morning and admire the beauty of nature, the sunrise, the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees and the fresh air. Even when it's raining, the sun still shines behind the clouds, and nature still exists. Bad moments are ONLY moments. They do not exist forever....unless we choose to carry those moments with us throughout each day. Let go of them and go onto the next moment and make it what you want to make it. Choose to be happy amidst the chaos. I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means. I have my bad moments as well. But I try to inspire myself in some way, to make my day a better one. I can only hope that through my journey, I can inspire others as well..... And to make at least one person a day smile....even if it's me!

SMILE and others will smile with you!