How I could use $100 to make the World a Better Place
Posted: Saturday, January 20, 2007
by Michelle L Devon
Accentuate Services
I am a writer!
Have you heard other people say that before? Does anyone really know what it means to BE a writer? Well, I know I didn't, until I was one - that is, until I was a writer for a living, by trade, and not just because it was something I did in my spare time.
Being a writer is not an easy job, but if you have a passion for it, it can be a very rewarding profession. The problem is, until you make a name for yourself, it can also be a very poor profession in terms of making money.
I am one of the lucky ones
- I worked in the corporate world and had business-minded parents who taught me the 'business' end of things, so that when I finally branched out to work on the talent part of writing, I had the best of both worlds.
Even then, there were some lean times in the beginning of my writing career. I was also a single mom, with two children at home, and I had just up and quit my day job to be a writer, with nothing else to fall back on to keep the lights on and gas in the car and food on the table. Money was tight. Stress was high, and there were days I thought to give it all up and go back into the corporate world.
Eventually, I landed a publishing contract with a small publisher, the editor of the company taking me under her wing and teaching me most of what I now know about the business of the writing and publishing industry. During one particularly financially difficult month, I needed to buy school uniforms for my son to attend public school (yes, our public junior highs require uniforms where I live) and I did not have the money to buy the uniforms. I had shared this information with my editor, who had become one of my closest friends.
That's when my editor told a friend of hers about my struggles, and how much she believed in me as a writer, and how she wanted to help me through this difficult time so I did not give up on writing altogether. Her friend, a former abused spouse and now advocate for women's rights, had started a personal discretionary fund.
Let me explain how this works: Her ex husband, the one who had abused her, had been ordered by the courts to pay her $100 dollars per month in restitution. She honestly didn't want or need his money, but she was not going to give him the satisfaction of refusing it, so she put it in her discretionary fund. Each month, she would pick a person who was struggling and offer the $100 to them, with one provision: when you could afford to, you had to 'Pay it Forward'.
I humbly accepted the payment, bought my son his uniforms, took him to get his hair cut to start school, bought some school supplies, and even had a bit left over to buy some treats for us for dinner. The money could not have come at a better time, and it took a lot of stress off of me and allowed me to focus on getting my son ready for school and not on how I was going to afford everything.
I wrote her a thank you letter, explained how I had used the money and what it meant to me, and then set about my writing career again, promising her that, when I could, I would pay it forward and would let her know I had.
It was several months before I could afford to pay it forward, but when I could, I did. In fact, it was around Christmastime, and by this time, I had joined a writer's forum, networking with other writers, and one in particular had talked about a difficult time recently with her children and her husband. I discreetly offered her the $100 payment, explaining how it was given to me and the expectation that she pay it forward when she could.
She cried, I cried, she thanked me, and I walked away from that transaction feeling as though I had made a small difference in the world, and perhaps a big difference in her life. In fact, it felt so good that I have repeated the process three more times with three other people I know who have needed the help.
Perhaps this doesn't make a huge change in the world, but of the four people I have offered $100 to, two of them have told me they paid it forward, sending me a long email about who they picked, why they picked them, and what the money was used for. Later, I found out that those two also paid their $100 forward too, and the stories of who they helped and how that made each of the people feel have continued to warm my heart, make me smile, and bring good cheer to all involved.
I may never know how many people this initial $100 dollars has touched, but consider this: it started with the judge who ordered the man to pay his ex for restitution - that judge can feel good knowing he did the right thing, and perhaps set a precedent that would help other judges make similar decisions.
From there, this $100 has given joy to the woman who gave it to me. Receiving the $100 gave me joy and peace during a difficult time in my life, which made me more pleasant to be around my kids, made my children feel better, and made me generally nicer and easier to be around friends and family - so it changed not only me, but everyone I would interact with, and that good cheer pays forward too!
When I was able to pay it forward, it again brought joy and peace to my life as well as to the person I chose to help. When that person paid it forward, it did the same to the one she helped, and then again, when the one she helped paid it forward. I don't know if the chain has ended or will end, but knowing this $100 has touched the lives of so many people already is simply a great feeling, not to mention the lives of those around this person who were able to hear about or experience the peace and good cheer.
Oh, I know you're saying that perhaps this does nothing to 'Change the World'. I would argue that it does.
Everything in this universe is interconnected. When something good is brought into this world, it truly does affect everything. Nothing big has ever happened overnight; everything big started with nothing more than a thought, which turned into an action that snowballed to result in something spectacular.
I submit to you now that any small change for the better in the world has the potential to make the world a better place. Many small changes add up to big change, and it all has to start somewhere. Why not with you? Why not with just $100 that can make a big difference in someone's life and bring joy to your heart?
Yes, I believe that a simple $100 can change the world and make it a better place. The more hands that $100 passes through, the more change will be affected, and the better the world will be.
In the end though, even if there is no radical shift in the world around you, think of how much of a difference that $100 could make TO YOU, in your world, when you can bring comfort at a much needed time to someone else, and if they pay it forward too, just imagine how many lives you can potentially touch - I'd have to say, $100 bucks is a small price to pay for such a wonderful outcome.
If I had an extra, and especially unexpected $100, I think the first thing I would do is start a new chain, find someone in need who I think would pay it forward, and make the offer. I would then also write about this experience in my personal blog. Who knows, between this article, my blog, sharing my experience, and starting a $100 pay it forward chain! maybe there will be enough momentum behind this to make a real shift in the world for the better.
Hey, it's worth trying, don't you think?
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Awesome Idea, thank you for the inspiration. I know exactly who the first in my chain will be!Thanks sweetie for all your support and those you directed to read my article... I know you well enough to know, you have started chains without even realizing you've done it. You are a very giving soul....
One small step is all it takes to change the world.Thanks, Olivia! I appreciate your comments!
brava michelle! nicely done. :)Thank you! I appreciate your comment!
This is a wonderful introduction for me as to how a REAL writer writes. Thank you so much. I also want to do your $100 pay it forward idea.Thank you! I hope your pay it forward works as well for you as it has for me. I feel truly blessed to finally be in a place financially to be able to do things like this and do my small part of making the world a better place. As for being a REAL writer... well, we're all REAL writers, some of us just have decided to make a living out of it too! Thank you again for your comment!
Significantly well written with tremendous thought impact. I concur Michelle has it hands down.Thank you so much for your comment. I'm honored and touched! I had fun entering this contest and reading everyone's entries and was so excited to win!
Michelle, by far the best of the best! This idea joggled my memory on what I've done to pay it forward. There have been far too many times to remember and I know that is why I am so blessed! An excellent article. Thank you!Thank you so much! I received my payment for the contest and I just wanted to say - I DID start a new pay it forward chain... so with any luck, this contest will have helped more people too and we've all done our parts in making the world a better place! Thank you for the comments!
I was crying reading your article and thinking about those people who helped me when I needed it so much. Now, it's my turn and I help people who desperately need money and thank God that my husband supports me in doing it. Thank you so much for such a touching article. God bless you!
It was amazing I thought!
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