Bren Simon: Supporting The Pay It Forward Movement Kindness is Contagious Too



The following is adapted from a previous posting from Bren Simon regarding how kindness can be contagious. Please visit https://brensimon.com/the-pay-it-forward-movement/ for more information.



You may have heard of the term “pay it forward.” Maybe it’s in regard to a line for coffee, in a food drive-thru lane, or even the popular movie starring Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey. But what does it mean to pay something forward? According to this definition it “…is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor.” Today, pay it forward moments often refer to someone paying the bill for the next person in the line behind them which can lead that person to do the came for the person after them, and so on.



Pay it forward moments come in big and small sizes. It only takes one person to start a chain reaction – one that even sparks national interest. USA Today reported on a small act of kindness at a Starbucks drive-thru that sparked 11 hours of paying it forward. It all started when one woman chose to pay for her own coffee and the order of the driver behind her which led the customer behind her to do the same. This cycle continued for 378 customers that day.



As you move through your week, here are some simple tips and ways you, too, can pay it forward.





Be attentive wherever you are for opportunities to help someone. By acting when not asked to, kindness is spread more rapidly.



Do something nice for someone you don’t know (or don’t know very well.) It’s easy to do something kind for a loved one, but push your comfort zone this week and think of ways to make someone else smile.



Spread the word. If someone thanks you for a good deed and offers to do something in return ask that they pay it forward to someone else.



At the Bren & Melvin Simon Foundation, we know kindness is contagious too.