Every year around the end of November you start to see people doing nice things for others. Yes, there was that sudden altruist push over the summer about strangers giving away free money, but shouldn’t this be a thing that happens all the time? The season of giving tends to remind people more that life is great when you make another person’s life better.
There are many people I know who will probably never end up in the news because their random acts of kindness go unnoticed. There is one lady I know who went to McDonald’s one morning with her husband for their usual breakfast and saw that the lady in front of her couldn’t pay for what she had order. She thought she had enough at first but when the price came out it was more than she expected so my friend offered to pay for her breakfast. A simple gesture like that goes far. Then you hear about generosity spreading when people offer to pay for the next customer’s order at Starbucks leading to stories like this one, and this one, and another, and another one in the news.
So why do people do it? Without having to bring in all the science and studies about why, lets keep it simple here. People do it because they know it’s the right thing to do and it’s better to help someone else (in need). If you need studies and research papers to explain to why it is important to give and help others than you are probably someone who also needs concrete evidence why you shouldn’t smoke either. When you see the look on someone’s face after a random act of kindness it does wonders for this world. It makes their day and it makes yours and chances are they will spread that joy.
The Importance of Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Many people stay up late at night because they have things on their minds. It wakes them up because their brains are processing so much about the situation that it keeps them from being able to sleep. Sometimes the thoughts are good, and most of the time they are bad. In this case one lady said that she would sleep better now knowing that the layaway balances at a Toys “R” US were cleared. When you think about it, that lady saved many a worrisome Christmas and turned it into a happy tear joyed occasion. The many people who came to hear that their layaway had been paid off were in tears that someone would actually do this. Many of the customers were called at home to be told about the good news. One lady said that she thought they were canceling her layaway because she missed a payment of $50 dollars.
For people with money it is hard to imagine that $50 dollars can make or break someone’s Christmas but it can. What that lady did has allowed all those individuals to be able to use the money saved and buy more for the holiday season. Christmas is all about helping others and giving back, and for anyone that thinks it is only about the presents and getting as much for themselves as possible then you were not raised correctly. If you don’t celebrate Christmas that doesn’t mean you have to be mean about it, you can still help others.
Ways to Help Others During Christmas
1. Offer to wrap someone’s presents for them.
2. Help someone cook a meal
3. Offer to deliver meals for home-bound individuals
4. Volunteer your time at a soup kitchen and bring your kids!
5. Offer to read to the sick and elderly at Nursing Homes, Hospitals, and Child Care Centers
6. Offer to read to the blind, both adults and children
7. Offer to put up someone’s Christmas lights and help decorate their house
8. When at a restaurant, offer to pay for someone’s meal anonymously
9. When checking out at a store, pay for the person’s items in front of or behind you
10. Pay offer $50 or $100 dollars worth of layaway at any store
11. Make a pie or meal for your neighbor & drop it off on their front porch or wait till their home
12. Pay for someone’s local bus fair behind you
13. When at the movies, pay for the next person’s admission ticket
14. Offer to pay for someone’s gas or leave money behind with the cashier for any pump
15. Leave an encouraging tip for a good waiter/waitress
16. You can donate blood and plasma
17. Buy a Pizza and deliver it to someone’s house (if your scared, then a neighbor you know)
18. Bake Cookies for a co-worker
19. Buy gift cards and hand them out to strangers
20. Offer a service for someone in need (fix a leaky pipe, mow the lawn, make a garden, etc)
If anyone has done anything for you this Christmas season then you need to learn the important lesson of paying it forward. If you want to see the impact of what it means to pay it forward, then watch the movie. Go and do the same thing to someone else. It’s human nature to want to make others happy so don’t stop yourself from doing it.
You can read more about the reactions in the community after people found out their layaway was paid for in the articles below. If you want to see what other things people are doing for others this holiday season just search, “layaway angels and “layaway Santa.” If you are still not sure about that you can donate money in person then look into the non-profit organization, Pay Away the Layaway, that helps pay off layaway accounts for people in need.
News Articles
Woman Visits Toys ‘R’ Us, Pays Off Everybody’s Layaway Accounts
Toys ‘R’ Us ‘angel’ pays off $20,000 in customer layaways
Merry Mitzvah! ‘Layaway Angels’ pay off thousands in toys
Layaway Santa Pays Off strangers accounts at Florida Walmart
