A simple idea with a big impact.
In 2000, a movie character name Trevor McKinney is a 7th-grade student at a school in Las
Vegas. He lives with his mother because his father had left them. While mother, Arlene, works with slot machines during the day and picks up extra shifts at a nightclub in the evenings to help with expenses, she also struggles with alcohol.
One day in school, a new teacher gives the students an assignment: "Think about what you could do to make the world a better place and put it into action."
Trevor takes this assignment very seriously. First, he comes up with a method: "Find three people to help. It must be something they couldn’t do on their own. In return, they should help three more people, and so on. Then a pyramid of kindness will be formed."
Though the phrase isn't original to the movie, the film unexpectedly created a movement to
"pay it forward" which still continues today. A small phrase with a big impact.
It is precisely the determination of ordinary people, who can inspire others by their example, that can change reality. Surely, we all know many examples of such people who have managed to inspire others to do good. However, often, by focusing on the contagious influence of bad examples, we fail to appreciate the impact of good ones. Goodness can be "contagious," too.
"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
