Paying Forward Part II

I received the copy of Lend me your Ears book from Scott, many thanks Scott, I really appreciate it. It still amazes me and brings a smile to my face that one comment on a blog led to a complete random stranger taking the time to go out of his way and post me the book. Inside the book was this card (photo) which tagged me and asked me to commit a random act of kindness.

I have since carried out a random act of kindness by giving a fellow student a book that she needed however I don't think it was in the spirit of Paying Forward as I knew her.

I'll be on my look out for some unsuspecting person to tag and surprise. You too can order some Smile cards for free by requesting them from www.helpothers.org

You can read how all this came about my reading my previous blog on Paying Forward.

Paying Forward!

I received an email the other day from a guy named Scott offering to send me a copy of a book written by a fellow blogger, Max Atkinson, entitled Lend Me Your Ears. I was pleasantly surprised by this email as I had never read Scott's blog before and had only commented on Matt's blog once, at almost the exact same time Scott was also leaving a comment.

In his email Scott noted that he was a strong believer in the principle of paying forward. I was unsure what this meant until he explained the principle to me. Basically, the principle of paying it forward is where you do something nice for somebody else without any expectation of anything in return. Additionally, the act should encourage you to do something nice for another. Hence, pay it forward, rather than pay it back.

It dawned on me that I was aware of this principle but I didn't know that it had an actual term. It reminded me of a story a guy told me once about each time he's on a toll road he pays for the car behind him also. He says it makes him feel great knowing that the car behind will be pleasantly surprised at this random act of kindness.

I'll keep you, and Scott updated on how I pay this random act of kindness forward.