Written by Crystal Schwalger
We humans are funny beings. I have noticed that we really don’t appreciate something until it is either taken away from us, or something brings it to our attention. Good health, for example. Most of us take it for granted. We get up each day, live our lives, and don’t really think twice about it unless something goes wrong or it touches us in some way.
We as Americans are very busy people. We have jobs, school, piano lessons, dance recitals, baseball practice, meetings, and the list goes on and on. There hardly seems to be enough time in the day to do everything we need and want to do. Money is pretty tight everywhere and like time, there never seems to be enough. We are so busy with our lives, that it is easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and problems, and let everyone else worry about their own also.
How rare is the person who gets involved in helping others simply because they want to.
It does happen though, and when it does, it’s not only inspiring, but helps all of us regain faith in the human race. It is with those acts that I have come to believe that small acts of kindness can become contagious.
I recently saw an article about a small pizzeria in Philadelphia called Rosa’s Fresh Pizza, where paying it forward is a way of life for the local owner. In this particular shop, he sells pizza for $1 a slice. What is unique is that the walls of this shop are not adorned with fancy pictures of Italy, or of celebrities eating pizza. Instead, the walls are covered in colorful post-it notes with pre-paid slices of pizzas for the homeless, or just those down on their luck looking for a hot meal. The idea started over a year ago when a kindly customer asked if he could pre-purchase a slice of pizza in case a homeless person ever came in hungry. The owner happened to have a post-it note, wrote $1 paid on it and placed it on the wall. The pay it forward pizza was born that day. Today, the walls are covered top to bottom with a multi-covered wallpaper of post-it notes not only for slices of free pizza, but with notes of thank-you from those who have received. Over 10,000 slices have been bought already and growing every day. Just small acts of kindness that became contagious.
Why is this? What motivates one human being to help another? What drives us to, as it says in the bible, “Love one another?” Why, because they have discovered the real secret to lasting happiness; that giving really is better than receiving.
It sounds funny, but I think that many people don’t realize how good giving service to others makes feels. I think about Mother Teresa, and how she dedicated her entire life to service of the poor and sick. She was not a rich lady, but she was rich in character and love. She showed that small acts of kindness could change the world, that they could become contagious.
According the Mental Health Foundation, doing good for others doesn’t just help the other person, it helps you too. How you ask? Research has shown that helping others can help reduce stress, improve your emotional wellbeing increasing happiness, and even benefit your physical health. They say that helping others, whether it is through volunteering, mentoring, doing something for a cause, or random acts of kindness actually promotes positive physiological changes in the brain associated with happiness. It helps to get rid of negative feelings, and it creates a memory bank of kindness that we can remember and feel good about.
I’ve seen the impact that doing service for others can have in my own family. One of my children, when they were much younger, had an anger management problem. They had all this emotion bottled up inside them, and didn’t know how to control it, or let it out properly. I told them that if they were to do service for others, that they would be able to let go of some of the anger and stress they felt. We made a plan to make cookies for random strangers in our town and do a “door bell ditch.” This service wasn’t for recognition, but for realization of the importance of others. We carried out our plan, and drove around our little town picking homes at random, leaving our little plates of goodness with a note saying we had made these just for them.
I’ll never know how our little plates of goodies affected those homes we left them at that night. I do know, however, the impact that it had on me, and my child. That was a night I will never forget. Besides being a ton of fun, it gave us a thrill to know that we hopefully brought a little happiness into someone else’s life, if only for that night. We both felt the joy that comes from helping others. Did all our problems suddenly go away? No, but it did relieve a little of the stress and anger, and gave us a memory of joy we could fall back on. Today, that same child wants to work in the medical field so that they can help others. Small acts of kindness that became contagious.
Hopefully, it won’t take a heart attack or the loss of a home or a loved one to cancer to recognize how much we have in this world to be thankful for. Perhaps we can look around at others, and see their needs. Not because we are somehow personally involved, or are compelled to, but simply because we want to. Small changes can make huge differences in other’s lives. Here’s to being contagious!
Crystal Schwalger has loved writing ever since she could remember. Her love of learning led her to Dixie State University where she graduated with a degree in English and Communications. She is passionate about writing and believes that you should never give up on your dreams. She is happiest when she is at home enjoying her backyard green spaces with her family. She currently lives in Washington Utah with her husband, her children, and her dog Kali.
