CAUSE AND EFFECT - PART 2 - Pay it Forward

Yesterday morning my sister-in-law and I drove through the Starbucks drive through to get ourselves a drink before I dropped her off at work and went off to hopefully find one of my own.

Now. I love Starbucks. Maybe it's not the best coffee in the world, but I've got some of the best memories associated with Starbucks, so it remains one of my favorites :).

As soon as we get up to the window to pay for our $12.30 purchase, the lady says "That will be $9.30 today. They guy before you paid it forward."

We both looked at each other and said to her simultaneously, "What?."

She said, "Yep you're the 24th car in a row today that's paid it forward. Unfortunately, the guy in front of you couldn't pay your whole bill but he did want to pay $3.00 of it."

We both looked at each other again with the same look and the same awe. We couldn't believe that 24 cars in a row had been  paying for the car after them.

I've seen a lot of blessing in action, but this one particular 'pay it forward' moment stunned me. It stunned us both. Never had we heard of something so simple and yet so rewarding done in a long time.

As we were driving away, I said to my sister; "This is way we should always live. We should always be paying it forward."

I love the movie...it stands to this day as still one of my favorite movies. It didn't make much money in the box office; in fact, I'm not even sure it made it to the theaters. But out of every one I know who's watched this movie - guys and girls, we've all been changed by it's undeniable truth woven throughout the sadness and the beauty of this movie. The truth that when you 'pay it forward' (do a good deed for someone else selflessly, with no strings attached), it creates this 'ripple effect.' It makes you feel good when you do something for someone else without them knowing before hand. It makes you feel like you've got reason to live.

I imagine that yesterday, a whole lot of people had a really good day because of their sacrifice. I'd also imagine that a lot more people paid it forward. It's contagious. It's fun. And there's no pressure to it...you do only what you can do.

I think I'm gonna do something everyday for someone and then challenge them to 'Pay it forward.'

What if we ALL did this?! I can only imagine how our whole demeanor would change. We might just have the strength to enjoy life again; enjoy our families, our work, our life.

Let's do it.

Are you in?

I'm in.