I have a great friend named Kimberly who is always looking for ways to help other people. She remembers all too well how it felt when she was a young mother trying to make the best life possible for her family when things were really tight.

A couple of weeks ago she and I were talking and she decided that this season she wanted to touch the lives of as many people as she could to make their holiday season as good as possible. She and her youngest daughter began helping people by doing random acts of kindness as often as possible. She bought someone their groceries unexpectedly at the store and she has purchased gifts off the angel trees and she has bought a lot of coffees for people behind her in the line at Starbucks.

I was inspired by her idea and have been doing the same. So far I have committed and kept the promise to put "paper" money, no coins in every single red kettle I encounter. I have passed many, I must say. I bought toys for the biker dudes who gather toys for kids; one for a boy and one for a girl. If I see an angel tree, I pick someone and buy their gift. I am at about four so far. I have tipped every single person who is tippable as I go about my day.

One day, I saw a young family in Wally World and they had a little girl about 2-and-a-half. She was flitting around the store admiring the toys, especially the big baby doll packages with all of the accessories. I moved through the isles remembering when my two daughters were little and how fun it was to get them toys that they really wanted. Nowadays their lists are very different as they live in the big-girl worlds of college and teendom. I stopped and gave the family a pretty good chunk of change and said "My little girls are all grown up. Would you help me remember the feeling of them being young by buying your little girl toys that she really wants this Christmas?" ~ Embarrassingly, I started crying before I could get away!

What can you do to pay it forward this season. Imagine if everyone who reads this decided to pick one way to make lives better. Imagine all the happiness we could spread. Please know that what you give comes back to you over and again. It is with pride that I say Kimberly is my friend and she inspires me to be a better person. Thanks for the great idea!