"Pay It Forward"

This past Friday, for the first time in I don’t even know how many months, I was sitting at home. I have been craving a day to myself for months now, so it was nice to finally get one.

I first decided to watch the hours upon hours of recorded shows I had on my DVR. After a while, I was starving and needing to move. So I got up, took a shower and went to the local pizza place to grab a bite to eat. When I came home, instead of returning to my recordings, I decided to see what movies were playing on the various channels I have.

That’s when I found Pay it Forward. I had seen the movie several times before, but I decided to go ahead and watch it anyway.

For those who haven’t seen it, the story focuses on 11-year-old Trevor McKinney played by Haley Joel Osment. On his first day of 7^th grade his Social Studies teacher (played by Kevin Spacey, in what I believe to be one of his best roles) gives out an assignment to create and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better.

Trevor comes up with “Paying it Forward” a charitable pyramid scheme. Basically, he does three good deeds, but instead of receiving something in return, he asks that they do something kind for three other people. Thus, creating a pyramid scheme of kindness.

I don’t want to give away too much of the movie, but if you haven’t seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. (It is available on Netflix, for all of you computer users!)

While I was watching the movie, I kept thinking to myself, what if more people did things for others and didn't expect anything in return? Would it actually be a good thing for the world? Or is there a such thing as being too kind?

I thought about this for the rest of the night. I came to the conclusion that maybe, all of us could be a little more helpful.

Christmas is right around the corner. The holidays tend to bring out the best in people, but I’m asking all of you reading this, why can’t we be like that all year? Is it too much of an inconvenience to do something nice for someone? I say, we could all do a little bit to make this world a better place. But it starts with you!

Whatever it is you do, whether it be helping out an elderly neighbor, or simply holding the door open for a stranger. Don’t worry about what you will get out of it; just tell them to PAY IT FORWARD.

Until next time, Joshua LaPeer...out.