Greetings YPs. I heard about the concept of paying it forward while listening to Michael Baisden’s show a while ago as I do during my commute home from work. Michael Baisden is one of my favorite radio personalities whom I admire and consider a role model for being a philanthropist, and an open minded individual. But let me stay focused on this concept of paying it forward which is basically doing something nice for someone you know or a complete stranger and not expecting anything in return but for them to pay it forward by doing something nice for someone else, hence the term/concept pay it forward.
This week I paid it forward to a complete stranger in gym which I tweeted about a couple of days ago. I consider myself a gym rat and I pretty much know and speak to a majority of the people in the gym just because I see most of them everyday but there are those few that seem to never speak which is cool some are more sociable than others. In addition, you also have those guys that refuse to buy locks for lockers which behoves me because they seem to act surprised when something is missing/stolen but anyway on this day in the locker room this guy decides to not even put his shoes in a locker but on the floor in front of a locker and someone stole them. I do not steal and by no means do I condone it but some things are preventable and this was one of them. My man was so upset, opening,slamming lockers in search of his shoes all while he’s cursing and apparently frustrated by the turn of events. Anyway, as I’m preparing myself for my workout on deck, I hear him mention that he didn’t have an extra pair and that he would have to walk to his car and drive home barefoot. It was raining and cold so I lent him my extra pair I had and told him to just leave them at the front desk his next visit to the gym. He introduced himself and I told him my name and he thanked me then stated he would olige my request to leave my shoes at the front desk.
In conclusion, I didn’t have anything to gain by giving this stranger my sneakers except the feeling of doing a good deed for someone in a time of need. Now some say that no good deed goes unnoticed and a worker at my gym found out about my good deed and informed the director of my gym who in turn called me on my way home from work. He informed me that he was going to waive my monthly dues for a month or two along with a $25 gift card and guest passes when and if needed. I had no expectations that I would receive anything for my kind gesture but I hoped that the man I lent my shoes to would do the same thing for someone else that may needa favor. My challenge is for you(YPs) to pay it forward. You never know what some people are going through and a kind gesture can make such a big difference in some people’s lives. A lot of times individuals do not wear their emotions or how bad their day went or what is going on in their lives on their sleeves so a kind gesture can make a person’s or family’s day that may really need it. You can do something small such as pay the toll for a perfect stranger in the car behind you or donate to a charity or the Haiti relief efforts or anything, it doesn’t have to cost you anything but this isn’t a one time thing. I challenge all to pay it forward routinely, make it a habit to pay it forward YPs!
***Checkout a clip from the movie “Pay it Forward” that I finally saw via Netflix.***
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One winter while I was about to enter a shoe, a young called to me and asked me if I knew anything about starting a car. I went over to look. In the car she had 2 little girls and a baby in a car seat. I found out that her car had ran out of gas and that she was just sitting in her car waiting to see a friendly face; someone she thought wouuld help her. I then got in my car drove to a nearby gas station. I purchased $20 worth of gas in a gas container, took it to her and helped her pour it in her gas tank. Pretty soon the young lady and her babies nice and warm and on their way home. I went home and shared the story with my kids. It felt so awsome to have helped someone. True story.