Pay It Forward....

I have decided to stop buying obligatory gifts for birthdays, and at Christmas for anyone over the age of.....say.....20-ish. Really, what the heck am I going to buy for my adult working friends that they can't buy themselves? or that they don't already have?


What I do believe in however, are those "OMG! So-and-so would love this!" or "I saw this, thought of you and just had to get it!" or the best gifts and prizes of all? The "I think this contains an important message, and so I am passing it on to you. You cannot pay me back, I do not want money, but what you can do, is pay it forward."


For me, this specific gift almost always comes in the same form. A book. And more often than not lately, the book is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you want to understand me, read this book - I swear to you, I took the same spirtitual journey with the author when I read it the first time. And each time that I have picked it up, or listened to it on my iPod since then, I always regain some insight into myself.


In early March of this year, I met an outrageously funny, ever-evolving, open, warm and fabulous chick, who I'll call Janet. Do you ever meet some people and just instantly love them? That's how it was for her with me - she fell for me, hook, line and sinker. ;)

Je joke. We just connected, and so we did what all new friends do these days - we added each other on Facebook right away.

With Janet living in Montreal, and me here in Ottawa, we started keeping in touch via emails, and getting to know each other. After awhile, I came to see that this vivacious, intelligent chick needed what we all need sometimes - another fucking growth opportunity (AFGO for short).
Granted, I may have been off base, but I was getting the sense that she was selling herself short, and allowing jerk-off men into her life, when she should realize her own worth and sense of self.
So, while I didn't know her that well at the time, I made my notes on sticky paper, stuck them on the pertinent pages, and sent off a copy of Eat Pray Love anyways.

And here comes the part about paying it forward. Fast forward a mere 3 months, and my friend is embarking on a whole new life journey - with her first baby on the way, the purchase and move into a new house, she is in the process of renting out her apartment to someone new. Thanks to the wonders of technology and social networking again, these two girls have been writing back and forth and guess what!?!?! This new girl needs the book, too!

And so, Janet is going to clear out her apartment, move on with her life, into her new home, take the lessons learned with her, and leave only The Book behind to pay it forward for someone else to enjoy the journey.

How great is that!?

I hope that you have an awesome day!

P.S. I loved this story, and so I absolutely had to share it with you.