Paying it Forward: How One Cup of Coffee Could Change the World
One woman's experiment to understand how the power of giving without reward can change lives.Random acts of kindness campaigns are increasingly popular as we look to kindness to strangers as a means to create a kinder and more caring society. For 14 days, Dr Sandi Mann, from the University of Central Lancashire, carried out her own 'paying itforward' challenge, handing out free chocolate, coffee, umbrellas and more in the hope that her generosity would inspire others to carry forward more random acts of kindness. The results surprised her.
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Paying it Forward
How one cup of coffee could change the world
Sandi Mann
HarperTrueFate
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First published by HarperTrueFate 2015
FIRST EDITION
Text © Sandi Mann 2015
Cover photo © Shutterstock.com 2015
Cover layout © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Sandi Mann asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
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'This book is full of heart-warming, real-life examples of paying it forward that will inspire and motivate you to do the same.'
Charley Johnson, President of the Pay It Forward Foundation
Contents
Paying it Forward: How it All Started for Me
Chapter 1: Paying it Forward â Whatâs it All About?
Chapter 2: Why Giving Feels Good
Chapter 3: The Power (and Discomfort) of Gratitude
Chapter 4: Selfish or Selfless?
Chapter 5: Goodwill Un-Chained
Chapter 6: Trying it Out â My Story
Chapter 7: For the Good of God? How Religious Communities Have Been Paying it Forward for Years
Prior to 2 February 2013 I, like many people, had never heard of the concept of paying it forward. All this changed when a friend in America posted on Facebook her experience of being bought a coffee as part of a pay-it-forward campaign. I was intrigued, and wrote a blog on this for the Huffington Post. The blog received over 2,000 âLikesâ and nearly 300 shares and is still being shared and read today. Clearly this is a topic that resonates with a lot of people â including me. I was hooked.
This book has been borne from this one cup of coffee that my friend Debbie was treated to. It is the story of the psychology of altruism and kindness, and itâs also my story, for I couldnât research PIF without trying it out for myself. It has changed my world; I hope it changes yours, too.
Paying it forward is the one thing on this planet that all 7.1 billion people can participate in. The one thing that allows anyone, no matter what their age, race, religious beliefs or where they live, the ability to make someoneâs day better. It can be a family member, a friend, a stranger, a customer, maybe someone you see all the time at the gym â whoever you choose. It can happen whenever you want it to; there will never be a shortage of people who need help or even a little cheering up. It doesnât need to involve money â all the pay-it-forwards that Sandi Mann carries out in the last chapter cost less than the price of this book. It doesnât need to make you feel uncomfortable and it can be done for any reason. This world needs more goodness in it, and any reason â no matter what that is â is a good reason.
Goodness needs to make its way to the forefront of our society and it needs to be taken seriously. It needs to be on the front page of newspapers, at the beginning of the news on TV with big feature stories and not the last 30 seconds of the broadcast. It needs to infiltrate our homes, our schools, our companies, our shops, our families, our lives â every aspect of our world. It needs to become the thing we get addicted to, just like we did with Angry Birds. This book, which discusses the psychology of paying it forward, should help with getting the message out there.
Imagine 10 million kind acts happening today that did not happen the day before. Can you imagine what that would do to our world? This book is full of heart-warming, real-life examples of paying it forward that will inspire and motivate you to do the same. Paying it forward, random acts of kindness and doing good, is something we all speak of but not enough of us back up that talk with actions. We want our kids to grow up to be kind and respectful, yet our day-to-day examples may be showing them the complete opposite. When people see good, they do good, as the extensive research that this book draws upon so clearly shows. The world needs more goodness and with every kind act you perform, someone will be sure to notice it and do the same.
