Approach each day with a determined mindset to give to others rather than take from them in life. Have no expectations for a favor in return. Your intent is only that they may then pay it forward to another.

Pay it forward with simple acts of kindness such as a nod to intentionally recognize another, a compliment shared to acknowledge another’s efforts or a gesture to offer help to another when they might need it.

Being a part of a family offers an ideal example of pay it forward. A favorite parable:

A parent lifts their child onto their back to carry them across a flooding river. When I am older, said the child to the parent, I will carry you across the river as you do now for me. No you won’t, said the parent stoically. When you are older you will have your own concerns. All I ask is that one day you will carry your own child across the river as I do for you now.

A given act of kindness paid forward offers meaningful moments and experiences in our lives. From these acts, others may learn and apply that same experience into their actions from how they were made to feel by your actions. There are great lessons to be learned and shared through giving, why not lead by giving of yourself each day?

“Sometimes you can’t pay it back, so you pay it forward.” — Randy Pausch —

MITM