Paying It Forward

Consciously Choose to Begin Paying It Forward

by Maria Khalife

“Action expresses priorities.” ~ M. Gandhi

In our world today, the things that make the big news are the “big things.” Even the most humble things only get addressed when they become a big movement, such as the publicity around the charitable works of Mother Theresa and “paying it forward”.

Does this mean that unless we do those “big things,” our lives are valueless? Absolutely not. We have the capability to consciously choose to do small things and in this way, we create value for ourselves, the others in our lives, and the world at large. When you change your baby’s diaper, you create health and harmony for your child – which let’s your neighbors rest well at night – which allows for greater productivity for him at work the next day – which permits the company where he works to flourish – which heightens the profitability and success of the country where he lives, and so on, and so on. And remember, this chain of events had very humble beginnings and it the idea behind paying it forward.

We humans are united, whether we realize it or not. My writing this can actually end up bringing peace to the middle east! And it can give a glimmer of hope to someone in another country who reads it and internalizes its message.

All that we do, all that we think affects everyone else, and their actions are reflected out to others. It’s an endless activity. What may seem insignificant can pass from you to another and from them to another.

What is really wonderful is that you can consciously choose to be a source of great joy, of unconditional love, of caring inspiration, or you can be a source of doubt, of worry, of anxiety, or of emotional pain. The choice is entirely yours.

Your impact on the world is far reaching. If you can gain that vision of paying it forward and allow it to become the talisman representing your life and the message you want to send forth, you will cause ripples in the world as they move outward from yourself. You can create a wonderfully positive radiation that will wrap itself around all of mankind and serve to better the world.

The folks you touch most immediately in your inner circle, can be encouraged to “pay it forward.” If you do something wonderful and encourage the next person to pay it forward, the whole world will benefit. And if someone does something wonderful for you as a freely-given gift, you can take that and pay it forward so that soon enough, the entire world is humming more happily. Once charitable act, one thought-filled action will snowball and become a wonderful gift that will someday bless someone many lengths from your life, but affect them nonetheless.

You can consciously choose to live your life from this moment forward to be the starting place of great goodness.

Consciously smile at both friends and strangers. Consciously give away compliments. Consciously entertain the ability to bring laughter into conversations. Consciously offer graciousness to all with whom you come into contact. You will create a ripple effect beginning with you out into the world.

I think it would be an interesting experiment to consciously choose for this month to be the initiator of good will. Look for ways to be kind, charitable, happy, and gracious and watch what happens in the lives of those to whom you start paying it forward to. Generosity generates. If you will keep track of all the effects that you can see, I have an educated hunch that great good will accrue to you and your circle of friends. It’s worth a try!

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“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
~ Robert Brault