“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth” – Muhammad Ali
I’m a firm believer that part of our obligatory role in life is to pay it forward. My father, a WWII Marine, grew up as the middle son of 12 children who lost his dad at 15 but never lost his ability to give to others. As a young man after the war, he was working as a Recreation Director in the Town of Brookline, and he had the responsibility of establishing programs in multiple low-income areas. At work he saw how these young kids, a lot of whom did not have a father from the war or otherwise, were lost, without oversight, and essentially heading in the wrong direction. As poor as my dad grew up, when he saw those young children he took them under his wing, gave many a purpose and changed their lives. I remember him receiving letter after letter over the years from these young wayward kids, now married, saying, “I’m trying to raise my kids as you would Jim.” Years later they came to my dad’s wake from all over, some were still poor, many were Doctors, lawyers, businessmen, even a Presidential candidate. They came because of my dad’s ability to pay it forward.
Similarly, my mother grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood. She lost her dad even earlier, at 12 years old and by the time she was a teenager she was working at South Station in Boston watching all the flag covered caskets come home. Graduating at the top of her class, she had a full scholarship to university but refused it to continue to work to help her mom and two sisters make ends meet and keep their home. Green stamps for food and necessities were part of their lives. Did she lose faith in our country? No. She continued to pay it forward, got married, raised my sister and me in a wonderful environment of love and then went back to school in her 40’s to become an LPN and then an RN at almost 50 years old. Twenty-five years later retiring after tirelessly working for low pay back then in a Florence Nightingale manner of concern for her patients like no other. She too was paying it forward….as she still does today at nearly 98 years old. She is my National Treasure who I try to live up to every day.
My dear Spartans of Invictus, I use the phrase “Pay it Forward” as a motivational iconic term for every one of you to consider adopting as your own personal mantra. The old expression of, “If you give you shall receive” is so true. I can assure you that when you can make a positive effect on others, the personal joy you will have is life changing.
The phrase “Pay it Forward” is an expression that describes when someone who receives a good deed chooses to pass the kindness on to others instead of paying it back to the original person. It can also refer to giving back in general or spreading positivity. Paying it forward can be a powerful way to promote empathy and compassion, and to make a positive impact on the world.
I live to help each and every one of you to achieve your goals and dreams personally and for your families. I ask nothing for myself, but when you see those who do not have your skillset or abilities, or perhaps never had the opportunities that many of you have had, I contend that you too will have that opportunity to pay it forward. I encourage you to do so.
I was fortunate to have parents born in the twenties, who overcame multiple tragedies in the form of severe poverty, world wars, deaths of family members, and so much more. Many of us would not have made it then, not sure I would have. But out of the night that covered them black as the pit from pole to pole…they overcame those adversities to pay it forward to me, my sister and so many more. I will try to do the same by following Mohammed Ali’s quote, I will pay the rent. Will you join me?