PAYING IT FORWARD
We hear about something such as ‘Paying it Forward” and we think it’s a new concept, well at least I did.
That was until I thought about writing this post. Naturally I went on line to do a little
research and found that just as the old saying goes: “There’s nothing new under
the sun”. Well, paying it forward is not
a new concept. See article from
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward.
I got stuck thinking about this when I considered whether
one could “pay if forward” without being aware of doing so: A sort of banking of a good deed that would
pay dividends much later. Furthermore, could this good deed be accrued to
oneself? Let me explain.
As always these little tales involve our cockney childhood
but to be more accurate the teenage years of LS.
By the time this event occurred I’ve moved on to being a
young adult or at least I think I am. I
earn money, I have a job. I pay rent for
the privilege of living at home. I buy
my own clothes and in particular I buy shoes.
I love shoes and one pair of shoes I’ll always remember.
Made of the softest leather you could ever imagine in a
style and colour that was guaranteed to attract attention these shoes were my
pride and joy. But not for long.
You see they stretched!
Dad said it was due to the softness of the leather and though he could
fix most things other than a suggestion for wearing a pair of socks there was
nothing he could do.
Much later in life I discovered why my shoes had stretched:
The following poem by LS gives a little clue.
I wish I were my sister
Who wears such pretty clothes
Maybe in a few more years
To loan them I'll propose
But when I see her dressed so smart
For boys who stand and stare
I sneak to get her high red shoes
To wear when she's not there.
Obviously, my shoes were going out more than I was and they
were travelling on feet that were just a shade bigger than mine.
But life goes on and I eventually stopped
despairing for my little red shoes.
Karma has no concept of time so for the “Paying Forward” to
work this story jumps many decades to my recent bout with surgery.
One of the problems I experienced was a swelling of my feet
and legs. The therapy for this was
walking. And what does walking
require? The hospital was adamant that
walking required foot covering. I was
prepared for that. I had shoes and I had
slippers nicely stowed in my bag. And
that’s where they stayed! No way would
they fit on my swollen feet.
Here’s where I blessed the feet that stretched my red
sandals. LS provided a marvelous pair of
worked in sneakers that fit my swollen feet to a tee.
How can anyone not believe in “Paying it Forward” to
oneself!
