the mysterious power of kindness

pay it forward

The world is full of inspiring ideas.
Here is one, which is explored in Catherine' Ryan Hyde's novel "Pay it forwards:
A teenage boy, Trevor, gets a new teacher for his social studies classes at school. Like Trevor's absent father, the teacher, whose name is Reuben, is a Vietnam veteran. Reuben and Trevor like each other from the first lesson onwards
Reuben gives his class a voluntary assignment, which must have looked a bit like this on the blackboard:

Trevor has a good idea, inspired by a mathematical riddle his Dad once set him in the past. This is how he explains it to his Mother::

"Remember, he said if you were going to work for somebody for thirty days, and you had a choice - you could take a hundred dollars a day, or you could take a dollar the first day, and then it would be doubled every day. I said I'd take a hundred dollars a day. But he said I'd lose out. So I worked it out on my calculator. A hundred dollars a day is three thousand dollars. But if you double that dollar every day, you'd make over five hundred million on your last day. Not to mention everything in between. That's how I thought of my idea for Mr. St. Clair's class. You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to pay it forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven."
He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers.
"Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty=three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"

The trick is, that the good thing you do, is not just a small thing, but something that really makes a difference to the quality of life of the other person. The three projects, which Trevor himself embarks on are:

1. He gives the 35 dollars he earns for his paper round to a tramp. This regular money, as well as other help, enables Jerry, the tramp, to set up a new life.

2. He works in the weekends and after school to create and maintain a lovely garden for an elderly lady, who gets immense joy from it.

3. He schemes to bring his lonely, struggling mother and his teacher (severely wounded in Vietnam) together in a loving relationship, which changes their life completely.

The book is a magical, well written fantasy about just how much the world can change (and how fast!) if we apply the chain-letter principle to deeds of great generosity. 
It changes the fabric of society!
It is a book worth reading and a plan worthy of copying!