Pay It Forward Day!!

A date has been set for the official Pay It Forward Day!  It will be Saturday, September 17th and can happen any time during that day.  I wanted to use today's blog to help explain a little more and hopefully get lots of people ready to participate!

The idea of paying it forward may be familiar to you.  There was a movie by the same title that was really good (the one with Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, and Haley Joel Osment).  Oprah has done many shows on this topic and the idea has really become popular over the years.  The concept is simple.  When someone shows an act of kindness and generosity to you, then you should pay it forward to someone else.  Many times our reaction is to return the favor to the one who gave it, but paying it forward keeps the momentum going - giving it a domino effect.  We all know what it feels like when someone does something nice for you, but I truly believe that the greater feeling is being the one who shows kindness.  Knowing that you made a positive difference in someone's day - possibly even their life - is beyond anything they could give you in return!

So this is the challenge going out to everyone:  Begin now to think about something you could do on September 17th that would make a positive difference in someone's day.  Although it is not required, I would encourage you to do it for someone you do not know.  Examples could be anything from paying for someone's meal at the drive-thru - volunteering for a charity - sending flowers to a deserving person "anonymously" - helping someone out with their bills - leaving a note of encouragement to a coworker - the list goes on and on!  Since we have a few weeks before it will happen, you can really get creative with this!  It does not have to cost money either.  The fun part is the surprise element because it really changes someone's day.  And don't forget to tell the recipient to pay it forward to someone else.  You can tell them in person or give them a note but it is really important to do that so the full effect works. 

The other great part about this event is that everyone can do it wherever they live and we will all know that all kinds of random acts of kindness are being done on the same day - that's a lot of love going out into the world!  I am really excited about this and already thinking about what I can do on that day - Saturday, September 17th.   

I am using the Pay It Forwad facebook page to help unite us in our efforts.  If you have not done so, go to the link below and "like" the page.  I also challenge you to suggest the page to 25 facebook friends as well.  It is really easy to do - go to the "invite friends" link on the right hand side of the page and from there you can send the link to as many friends as you like.  The more people that are involved the better!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pay-It-Forward/187761993898?ref=hnav&__user=1069948259

Thanks to everyone who have agreed to participate so far.  I will continue to promote the idea on my blog as well as the facebook page - but don't wait until then to do something good - look for small ways every day to make a difference!

Today I am grateful for:  1.  Waking up to a new day  2.  Making great progress at my new job  3.  Finding out that my niece said my name for the first time today!  4.  A really good work-out  5.  The possibilities of the Pay It Forward Day