Just Pay It Forward!

It’s not in our power to change the world. Or is it?
It all started with an assignment in Social Studies: “Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action”. Trevor McKinney, a 12-years-old boy, came up with an idea that was so simple, pure and..affective.

The idea was to do a good deed for three people you wouldn’t help under normal circumstances and in exchange, ask each of them to “pay it forward” to three more and they would help three more people and so on. This way the idea would spread quickly. But there is one problem – the project would work only if the people you helped would really “pay it forward”, and that requires a blind trust in people. How unreal is that?

But Trevor had hope, and he tried to help 3 people, but it seemed like every try ended with failure. What Trevor didn’t know that things are never what they seem to be. Time passed by, and it looked like the project was dead, until a reporter came to Trevor’s school looking for the boy who started the “pay it forward” movement. It was soon discovered that the people Trevor helped did what he asked of them and his idea spread all over the US without him knowing.

Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read. From the first sentence to the tragic ending, every single word made me shiver and wonder what would come next. After reading the book [a huge delay, since the book was published about 10 years ago] I was curious if there is a movement like that in real life. Apparently, there is! “Pay It Forward” is a foundation that is based on the idea in the book. The first thing that popped in my head was “why didn’t I hear about it sooner?”

Anyway, I think that the book is amazing, and trust me – I’m not exaggerating! If you read this book, I would really like to hear what you think of it!

Marley & Me / John Grogan

Winter is my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it – the crisp air, the drenching clothes and even then freezing winds. Well, I love almost everything. As always, I get really sick in this time of the year. It’s practically inevitable. But there is one good thing about it – the extra time for reading [what a delight]!

So anyway, today I’m going to tell you about my latest obsession – Marley & Me by John Grogan. Actually, it is one of the books from my “to-read list”, and I read it twice in a row (doesn’t happen a lot. I usually wait a little bit before re-reading a book). I was really surprised to learn that this book was a biography, it surly didn’t look like one.

The book is about life with the world’s worst dog. Marley is big, strong and unstoppable. In other words – a source for troubles. Despite all that, John and Jenny consider him as a part of the family. Marley shares with them all the moments of joy and sadness, and the book describes their story till the inevitable goodbye.

The book is touching, funny and it’s a wonderful book to spend your time with, especially for dog-lovers. I bet that anyone who reads it, would be as captivated as I was.

If you want to know more about the book, click here to read the interview with John Grogan about  ”Marley & Me”.