“ Is it not fascinating how a single act of kindness can ripple through history , saving so many lives , and connecting individuals in unexpected ways ?
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The moral of the story is to pay it forward . We do not know how the good that we do today might come back to bless us in future . Or bless society . Sometimes it does not come back . Often , we perform good deeds without seeking or expecting any reward . The joy is in the pure act of giving , period . And we often do it in secret , not wanting the world to know about it . But it does have this peculiar way of , at times , circling back to bless us and others . We then reap what we have sowed .
There are other stories involving heads of government who have paid it forward . One is of the
Polish premier who thanked the American president for the millions of lives he had helped save during and after World War I by distributing food . Before becoming president , he was his country ’ s “ food czar ” and led the American relief programme , which provided food to the starving millions in Central and Eastern Europe . The president replied that there was no need to thank him . “ You won ’ t remember it , but you paid it forward once when I was a poor student at college and I was in a hole .” The American president was Herbert Hoover . When Hoover was a student at Stanford , he invited famed Polish pianist , Jan Paderewski , to perform for a promised fee . Unfortunately , the ticket sales fell much short of the goal . After the performance , Hoover presented Paderewski with the money he had and promised to stand in for the difference himself . Paderewski allegedly refused the payment and gave the money to Hoover to cover his costs . Paderewski later became prime minister of Poland .
Of course , the concept features in many religions . Hinduism and Buddhism talk about karma , the relationship between a person ’ s actions and the consequences following those actions . Although karma is not a term used in the Bible or the Quran , the concept features strongly in many verses , as most of us will know .
Now , paying it forward is essential to mutuality . Mutuals exist because others have paid it forward . We have a licence to operate because we have enough capital . Where did this capital come from ? Not from a shareholder looking for a return – mutuals do not have shareholders – but through members who had put in more than what they had taken
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