Change the World: Drive Thru Blessing

There was a quote going around Facebook this week that really inspired me.

I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

And I will not let what I cannot do

interfere with what I CAN do.

~Edward Everett Hale

I have these grand plans of how I intend to change the world, and sometimes they become so elaborate and complicated that I'm not sure I even know where to begin. So I don't. I just sit and stay and exist, and that's not doing anything constructive to help. This quote ignited the fire within me to find that focus I needed.

So how can I change the world? Maybe not the entire world, maybe just a group of people. Maybe just a city, or a neighborhood, or a street. Maybe just one person's day.

Several weeks a go, we did a quick afternoon trip through the local Sonic. "Happy Hour" seriously makes me happy! Half off drinks? Happy kids? Yeah, sure, sign me up for that!

I think we've all either heard the story, or maybe even experienced it, about a person in a drive-thru line paying for the people behind them. A little "Pay it Forward" thing going on. Recently I heard it referred to as a "Drive Thru Blessing" - awesome! I've always wanted to do it, but never really brave enough to try.

I know that sounds silly. "Brave enough." But it's true. At Sonic, they display your total bill on a small screen directly outside the window, and you can swipe your own credit card through. Once your bill is paid, it will show the person behind you in line's total. 

So that particular day, I paid our bill, and saw $2.24 pop on the screen for the person behind us. I decided that today was the day, I was going to pay somebody else's bill. What's an extra $2.24?

I'll admit, some days, an extra $2.24 is the gas we need to get from point A to point B, or how we finish getting dinner on the table. Some days it's not extra. But this particular day, I had a little extra, and I wanted to do something nice.

As I waited for the person inside to open the window so I could tell them my plan, another worker came out the door and went to the car behind me and took their payment directly, and gave them their drinks, and off they went.

I was discouraged. I had finally decided to do this and off they went! I was scared that the next person's bill might be $20, something I definitely didn't have at the time.

I held my breath as the screen changed to the next person in line.

$4.89.

Perfect! The woman inside opened the window to hand me our drinks, and I told her my plan. I slipped my card through the card reader again. She said she'd never had anybody do that before, just that she's heard about it, and she thought it was amazing! She was excited to tell the next person in line that their order was paid for. We had a wonderful exchange, smiled at each other, and off we went.

I hope that the person behind me was able to pass on this one small deed to somebody else in their life.

I hope that the woman working the drive thru window was inspired to do one small deed to somebody else in their life.

I hope the cycle continued.

It was one small deed. I certainly didn't get any recognition for it. But it wasn't needed. We can do small acts for the pure purpose of making somebody's day. Changing their world in a positive way, even if just for that one moment.

Happy Sunday! Have you done anything this week that has changed the world in a positive way? Something big? Something small? Please share! Not for recognition, but to inspire others to do the same. Imagine what the world would be like if we all took the time to do one small act for another person. Amazing!