Have you ever had your day made by someone paying for your food in the drive-through line at Chick-Fil-A, or even the simple act of the person in front of you holding the door for you as you walk into class? The random acts of kindness that take the smallest amount of time in your day can take up the most space in another person's heart.
When someone randomly acts out of kindness to you, keep it going by doing the same to someone else that day- pay it forward.
I know y'all didn't make it through elementary school without hearing the Golden Rule at least a few times- treat others the way you want to be treated. Do you want to be treated with kindness? Start by putting kindness out to others, and it will be returned to you. If you start by treating others well, they'll return that same favor to others and the world can start to look a whole lot different.
In her 1916 novel 'In the Garden of Delight', Lilly Hardy Hammond wrote: "You don't pay love back, you pay it forward". We shouldn't act out of kindness only to those who treat us well, but to everyone. Paying it back is showing love to those who loved us first, but paying it forward is showing love to those who might've treated us unkindly in the past or maybe even those who we haven't gotten to know yet.
Paying it forward is stepping out of your box and being ready to spread love and light and kindness in whatever form it may take.
Whatever form it may take, pay it forward. You don't have to buy the person's food that's in line behind you (although I'm sure they wouldn't complain), or go out of your way to make a huge gesture to someone. It can look like leaving an encouraging note for your roommates, reaching out to a friend or family member you haven't talked to recently, or offering to give someone a ride when you're both going to the same place.
Small acts of big love will always outweigh grand gestures with little behind them.
In today's society, there's an endless supply of negativity and hatred that we must confront every day. In the midst of so much negativity and hatred, we have a choice to give into them and give them power or decide to take control of the narrative. We can take control by starting small and deciding that when we wake up each day, we will pay it forward.
If you can't find something that inspires you to go out of your way to be kind, do it because you might be someone else's reason today for them to show kindness. As I said, there's no shortage of bad things in our world, so if you can't find positive, create it for yourself.
