I love being positive. It is the way I try to live my life. I have said many times I am a glass half full person and have been most of my life. Sure there have been difficulties and challenges but good grief—we have so much to be thankful for!!! That is why I got so excited when I read that Missy at Literal Mom was helping to co sponsor a great blog event Pay it Forward. She and Carolyn at Hooked and Happy are sharing stories of hope and positive acts of kindness during this week and I had to link up with them. There are some great stories out there to share and some of you might want to join in also. Please go to either of these fabulous ladies blogs (just click on their names above) and join in the Pay it Forward blog hop–they will be doing another one in December so it will be great to make this a part of your monthly blog cycle!!!
I have a fabulous Pay it Forward story that I have shared before. When we lived in Mooresville, North Carolina we lived in a nice little subdivision on a golf course. It was lovely but the not so lovely part of living there was the fact that we lived on a very busy peninsula with one road in and out. It got crazy sometimes with traffic that never seemed to end. Brawley School Road was the road that we all had to travel to get anywhere and everyone seemed to choose the same time to use it. I knew how hard it was to get out of one of the side streets that did not have a traffic light. It was nearly impossible during morning rush hour. One morning I was on my way to work and noticed a car coming off one of the side streets. Since I had been sitting still for awhile I figured they had been stuck there even longer so I slowed, motioned for the man to come out and let him into the line of traffic. No big deal. Just being polite. It was Wednesday and double punch day at The Human Bean so I usually whipped through to get my favorite cafe mocha for the drive to Concord. Again I waited in line. No big deal. As I got to the drive up window and ordered my sweet treat and pulled out my card to pay the barista she told me that the man in front of me had paid for my coffee. He had told her that I had let him out in traffic and it had made his day. I did not even notice that it was the same car in front of me at the coffee place as I pulled up!!! What a great thing!!! One small deed set the tone for the day for me and every time I went to that drive up later I thought of that!
It was a simple thing. It did not change the world. It did not save a life or make a permanent change but it did make my day. Just think if we all showed a bit more consideration how good we all would feel. Simple truth is that it takes nothing to offer someone a smile. If that is all you have today—offer it and offer it freely. It is well worth it.
21 Comments
Leave a commentFor me, it’s the little things like this that make the biggest difference.
Made me want to return the favor (and I did) to someone!!!
Oh, Beth Ann, this is a great pay-it-forward story! I, like you, have been a glass-half-full person for most of my like–just seems to come naturally to me. Thanks for sharing this tale of coffee caring.
Hugs,
Kathy
Thanks, Kathy! This is such a great idea for a blog hop, don’t you think? I love it!!! And it is easy for me to do stuff like this but not so much for a lot of people, I find. That’s okay—I will do their share! 🙂
Another driver allowed us into traffic the other day, too. A kind gesture given what you most often see on the road is just the opposite. I agree that the smallest acts of kindness can make a difference. Thanks for promoting this concept.
It is those small things that add up and make a huge difference, don’t you think??? Always looking for those little things to do!
I love, love, love this pay it forward story! It’s such a perfect example of the ripple effect of paying it forward! Thanks so much for linking up Beth Ann!
Missy–thank YOU! I love this idea for a blog post / hop and think that others are just shy to write about it!!! Hope it catches on!!!
That’s an awesome story. It made your day and gave you something to smile about. Little acts of kindness go a very long way! 🙂
And that is so very very true!
Ah, “The Milk of Human Kindness”. in a double latte with two sugars..Nice story..
Thanks. It was a nice day. And years ago but still remembered.
Good days linger nicely on the mind..Have another one today.
This is the kind of story I was talking about in my intro post to Pay It Forward. I love it!
And I love double punch at Human Bean too 🙂
I love it. This is the kind of story I was talking about in my Pay It Forward Intro post.
Oh and I love double punch at The Human Bean too!
That’s so great. What a fun story.
I had a father who had a half empty glass (a good man but not a very happy man) and a mother had a half full glass and was a wonderful mother who helped me to be a half full glass full person. She was happy, so am I.
Apparently, you made his day, too. 🙂
I was a recipient of a Pay It Forward coffee in a drive through one day & did the same for the guy behind me. The story I love the best though is one involving hubby:
While pulling into a drive thru in a strange part of town one day, hubby had a woman honk her horn quite loudly, then she got out of her car & came up to his window where she proceeded to chew him out for cutting in front of her in the line to get to the drive thru. Hubby apologized, said he had not seen her, but she was still irate & left in a huff to go back to her car while shouting obscenities. When hubby reached the window to pick up his coffee, he asked the clerk to charge him for the lady’s order behind him. I was proud of hubby for not losing his temper & doing such a nice thing to an obviously mean lady.
I need to remember to do this sometime for someone else. It is such an easy way to pay a little smile forward to someone else. Thanks for sharing such a sweet story!
I sometimes think it is the small gestures like this that make the most impact! Thanks for stopping by!!!