Pay It Forward

I always remind myself to be grateful for the abundance of gifts which I have been blessed with in life. And I truly believe that we can make a positive difference to the world we live today, with our little efforts, and the rippling effects of "Paying It Forward".

Sharing 3 personal short stories on how I hope to Pay It Forward:

Lunch Treat

On occasions when I feel like, I would treat whoever is having lunch or dinner with me to the meal.

The usual responses from my meal company would either be:

"Can I pay for my portion?"

or

"My treat the next time?"

or

"Is there a reason for the treat?"

And my response will always be:

"No, there is no occasion or special reason for the treat. I sincerely appreciate your efforts and time to have the meal with me. If you really want to thank me and return the favour, kindly give the next person you dine with, a treat, and request for him to pay it forward."

Taxi Ride

There was once a stranger who hopped onto the taxi with me, which was originally chartered for my transfer to my retreat location. Yi Han had not planned ahead to arrange for the transfer and would have been stranded in the deserted airport. When I found out at the immigration queue that he was also going to the same retreat, I offered him the opportunity to ride with me during the transfer.

Yi Han was adamant to split the cost of the taxi arrangement and pay me his portion.

And my response was: "If you really want to thank me and return the favour, treat the next person you share a taxi ride with, and request for him to pay it forward."

Punctured Bicycle Tire

As I was on my return trip on my usual weekend cycle, I whizzed past a cyclist who was pushing his bicycle at midnight. The curious me back-traced my route and quizzed if he needed any assistance. Found out that Darren has been pushing his punctured bicycle for the last 3 hours as he had no spare bicycle tube or patch to resolve his puncture.

We changed out his punctured tube and got him riding again.

Darren was so grateful and happy that he kept asking to repay me the cost of the spare bicycle tube or buy me a drink.

All I said was: "If you really want to thank me and return the favour, always carry two spare bicycle tubes and if you pass any cyclist who requires assistance, offer your help and request for him to pay it forward."