I Believe in Paying it Forward

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Recommended: Reflection about paying it forward

I believe in paying it forward or as the people of Erie, Pennsylvania like to call it, #AJO, a pay it forward moment that was started in memory of a young girl who died earlier in the year due to an epileptic seizure. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small act or a large one; if it makes you feel good and it benefits someone else, then it counts. Molly Friedenfeld, author of The Book of Simple Human Truths, once said: “A purposeful act or extension of kindness to another is never wasted, for it always resides in the hearts of all involved in a chain of love.” She’s right, too, even if you pay it forward just once in your life you’ve still touched the life of someone and there is a high chance that they will pass it on. Paying it forward isn’t just buying things for people – like a pumpkin spice latte, for example. Paying it forward can be simple acts of kindness such as holding the door for someone or chasing a ball down the sidewalk for a group of children. Your mood spreads so you might as well make it a good mood.
I believe in paying it forward because I’ve done it before and I know how good it makes you feel afterwards. When you do something nice – anything nice – for someone other than yourself it makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. Sure, it’s great to help your mom with the dishes or something stupid like that, but it feels ten million times better to do something for someone else. It doesn’t have to be a huge act of kindness, like paying someone’s bill at dinner, though; it can simply be smiling at a stranger or helping someone out with a task. By doing something kind you not only make someone else feel good, but also yourself. Let’s be honest though, we have all had the door held for us at some point in our lives a...

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... they write “#AJO” on the cups so that people could learn more about Alyssa’s life and epilepsy. The employees working when the couple went in to do this were so moved that they donated their own free drinks from their shift and by the end of the day, almost a hundred PSLs were given away to the unsuspecting Erie community. These people responded beautifully to it and pre-purchased more of the fall favorite lattes and the movement quickly spread to all sorts of things. I personally take enjoyment out of checking the Facebook page “AJO Forever in our Hearts” almost daily just to read the stories that people send in about being AJO’d and I love seeing how far the AJO movement has spread. I had lost faith in the good of humanity, but the life of this young girl and the legacy that her parents built in her memory restored it. AJO is why I believe in paying it forward.

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