There’s a misconception in the world that in order to make a difference, you have to donate large amounts of money to an organization.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Giving back is about gaining knowledge to raise awareness. It’s about sitting down and listening to a friend who needs guidance. It’s about helping a first-time mother pick up her screaming baby’s toy that they just threw across the room. It’s about mentoring a young child who needs a positive influence in their life because mom and dad aren’t around. It’s about telling a stranger you’re there if they need you and it can only go up from here. It’s about so much more than just money.

Giving back is about realizing when somebody has helped you during your time of need that you do the same for someone else in their time of need.

A related concept so widely known yet so little put into action – Pay it Forward. Defined as responding to a person’s kindness to oneself by being kind to someone else.

Ever since I was little, I’ve had a passion for helping others.

My passion doesn’t derive from knowing what it’s like to be homeless, or knowing what it’s like to not know where my next meal will come from, but from knowing that when times get rough I’ve always had somebody to back me up. I feel like now it’s my turn to back somebody up. For me, this means asking for non-perishable food items instead of birthday presents for the last four years that I donated to Love Inc. Last year I reached out through facebook and found five families who I cooked and delivered Thanksgiving dinner too. Personally, it means giving back in anyway possible. Maybe for you this means holding a door open for somebody with their hands full, or paying for the person’s coffee behind you in line at Starbucks. Maybe it’s volunteering at a food pantry who once helped feed you and your family.

Maybe all it’s supposed to mean is give back for those who have given to you.

One of the most influential people in my life is was my social studies and pay it forward teacher Brian Williams (also known as BDubs). He taught me what it means to give back to my community, how to create a difference even if that difference was a small one, and he taught me there is no greater gift than that of being kind to others. He once said “Getting involved in the community and understanding that ‘we are the ripples that become waves’ is important. Sometimes you don’t understand what you create. Our goal is to create the ripples and if waves develop out of that, that’s sweet. Ripples don’t just start, something has to start them.”

So I challenge you; Of the 7.3 billion people on this planet, all it takes is one. One person to start a ripple to create the waves the world needs. What will you do to create that ripple?