Paying It Forward

Good Morning everyone,

I just finished my vitals and it is one of my favorite times to sit and write. The hospital is nice and quiet and the view of the city is a special site as the sun rises. Now this morning is a little darker, seeing how we lost an hour sleep but I still feel rested and ready to start another great day.

I have spent the last couple days really reflecting on the concept of paying it forward. I remember watching the movie years ago and thinking man what a novel idea, but like most people the credits began rolling, I turned off my tv and then continued with my life planned out for that day.

It wasn't until I got sick that the idea from that movie popped up in my head. I was doing some research to get the jist of the plot and found out that this is quite an old concept. In fact Benjamin Franklin wrote about it in a letter to Benjamin Webb in 1784. "I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him[...] This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money."

Throughout history we can see many others quote such a simple practice. Lily Hardy Hammond wrote, "you don't pay love back; you pay it forward". What a simple but powerful quote.

My expercience through the treatments has brought a new found respect to the love that people pay forward. Everytime a tranfusion bag of either red blood or platelets were hung a complete feeling of gratitude took over my body that a stranger would take the time out of their day to do something so simple but yet powerful. I wondered if they truly knew how much a gift they were giving and how powerful of an impact it was going to have on someone's life. It made me guilty to my own ignorance of how such a simple deed can be truly life saving and just how much is truly needed. One of my biggest regrets was that I didn't donate any blood in the years before I was sick. I knew I needed to do something to pay forward the good deeds I had received and it was at about 6:00am on Monday March 8th that I came up with the idea, you can see a pattern here, i have a lot of reflections in the morning :) Although I could no longer personally give my own blood to pay it forward, I could inspire others to act and so I created the blood drive challenge.

In the past week this has been building so much momentum and I am so happy with the progress to date. The anniversay diagnosis dinner was already going to be such a joyous occasion but having such a giving person joining us will make it all the more special.

But there has been a downside to this challenge that I hadn't forseen, I have received many disapointed emails saying that they can't donate due to health issues, not weighing enough, blood chemisty issues(low iron), etc. My heart goes out to all these people because I know the feeling of disapointment when you want to be able to do this but can't due to health issues.

This has been the focus of my reflection for the past little while and I came to a realization. Most people when faced with a challenge and the ability to act, take that oppurtunity. But when faced with a setback get disapointed that they couldn't do anything and move on. This shouldn't be the case, when we can't act we should find ways to inspire others to act in our place. An example is I was just talking to my mom the other day who was super disapointed because she was to old to become a member of the one match database. I told her it was okay, it just meant that it was no longer her time in life to be the person who acts but rather now is her time to inspire others to act. I gave her a challenge of finding 10 other people and influencing and inspiring them to join the one match registry in her place.

This same simple premise is the challenge I would give to anyone that faces such a dilemna. When life tells you it is no longer your turn to act, it means it is your time to inspire and get others to act, not move on. With this new prospective I am adding a secondary piece to the blood donation challenge. It is to inspire and influence as many people as possible to give blood. Go to the blood donation challenge page for more details.

I hope you all have a good day and always remember you don't give love back, you pay it forward.

Aaron