Paying It Forward Can Change Your Brain Chemistry

Paying it forward sounds simple until you try to live it on a hard day. We dig into what the phrase actually means: taking the support you’ve received and turning it into kindness for someone else, not as a trade, but as a choice that keeps moving. If you’ve been stressed, burned out, or stuck in your own head, this conversation frames compassion as something practical you can do in real life, even when you don’t have extra money or energy. 

We also get into the mental health side of kindness, including the science behind the “Helper’s High.” When you help someone, your brain can release serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, chemicals tied to mood, connection, and relief. We talk about how paying it forward can lower stress, shift your mindset, and even build self-esteem over time. Small habits matter too: respect, gratitude, and basic manners can be daily acts of compassion that make a room feel safer for everyone. 

To ground it, we share a personal story about seeing an older man in a wheelchair struggling up a steep hill near the Salt Lake City airport and stepping in to help without hesitation. That one moment sparks a real sense of purpose and inspires someone watching, proving how quickly kindness can spread. If you’re looking for motivation, holiday giving ideas, or simple ways to practice empathy, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. 

What’s one way you can pay it forward today?

For more information on paying, it forward; please click on the link below:

27 Mindful Pay It Forward Ideas to Create a Cycle of Kindness

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Idea

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night wherever you are and however you are listening. Welcome to Fruit Blenders Podcast. On this episode, we will be discussing paying it forward and what it means to pay forward. So paying it forward is an expression for when the representative of an act of kindness does something kind for someone else rather than simply accepting or repaying the original good deed. So it's about a person, person's kindness to oneself by being kind to somebody else. I will take the support I have had and try to pay it forward whenever I can. Listen, there's a lot of ways to pay forward. Paying it forward can do a lot, and it can benefit a lot of people in many ways. It just doesn't have to be about money, paying for things, doing this, doing this, just do something kind for somebody. Just do something kind. I mean, there's reasons why you should pay it forward. Because not a lot of people are having a good day, a good night, a good um, you know, a good uh you know they never had a good day at work or anything. It could be anything, they could be stressing out, going through something that we all don't know. But when you become kind to somebody and pay it forward, there's a lot that could come back to you in a positive way. And remind you, tis the season of giving. But when you're feeling overwhelmed and you're struggling with your mental health, the reality is that you're probably not making much about other people, you're not thinking much about other people, and that's totally fine. It's fine, it's not selfish to focus on yourself when you need to most, you know, when you need to do it the most, but taking a little bit time and doing something for someone else can potentially help how you're feeling. Number one, I'd say when you do something good for somebody, our brain reacts to it in a certain way. The chemicals in our brains they can change. If you've ever done something kind for someone else, you probably know the you know, the euphoric feeling. You pass it forward. Afterwards, you know, you you smile, your facial expression changes, you did something good for somebody, the weight gets off your shoulder. There's actually a name for that, it's called Helper's High. And researchers show that when you help someone, there's a process that happens in your brain that releases serotonin, dopamine, and oxytoxin. The feel-good chemicals. So the reward of your you know, the center of your brain is kicked started, and you get rush endorphins, and it makes you feel happier, makes you feel great. Two, you can give in so many different ways, nothing has to come out of your pocket. The act of kindness can sometimes mean giving your time and money. Hey, donations, hey, sometimes people will take donations, and that can stir a lot of people away. But there's a lot of studies that show hey, acts of kindness don't need to include face-to-face interactions or monetary donations at all. While those larger actions can still have their own unique benefits, you're still improving your mental health by just calling someone you love or saying thank you to a stranger. In my life, I've learned two things. Be respectful and be kind. Always say thank you and you're welcome. Also, excuse me, don't forget about excuse me. When there's somebody in your way, always say excuse me, thank you, you're welcome. Number three, kindness builds on itself. Remember that. If you think of uh, you know, compassion like music, you gotta dance to the rhythm. If you think of about you know your muscles, every time you do something for someone else that stretches the muscle a little bit more, and acts of kindness, you know, it gets easier. It's like music, just dance to it, you know, let your juices flow. It can actually become an instinct to respond to others in a helpful, kind, compassionate way. So you start to reap the benefits of kindness more and more often with less effort. Let's be real here. Um, we all stress, everybody stresses out, everybody's gonna do something, you know, and there's nothing you can do about it unless you change the script, flip it around. Studies have found that people who show kindness and concern for others had a 23% lower level of you know cortisol, so the stress hormone compared to the average population, you've got a natural stress reliever just by showing compassion for someone else. That's it, joy, happy, kindness, it changes how you view yourself. It does, it does the minute you walk away from what you have to pay forward, it changes how you view yourself. Because studies show that random acts of kindness can also improve your feelings of self-esteem and self-worth. You know how much you're worth, so you're gonna have to pass, you're gonna have to pay it forward because not a lot of people have much, so the other person can have less, or they're struggling and they need help. And um, some people also report a stronger sense of meaning and purpose after acting out of compassion. You know, it it has been reported that, so be kind, get out there, do something nice for somebody, break the neighbors' leaves, or mow the lawn, or walk the walk somebody across the street, share some books, anything, anything kind. Also, just remember that when you pay it forward, it gets you out of your head, out of your own head. If only for the one selfish, selfless moment, I should say, your mind isn't worried, stressed, sad, angry, whatever it may be. Instead, you're focused on what you're doing for someone else. In those minutes, your brain will be thinking about the good things that you are doing for something outside of your you know, outside of yourself, your comfort zone. And the connections, the connections you're making, let's talk about that, the connections you're making with other people. The good stuff starts immediately. This isn't one of the best things where you have to put in serious effort before you see results. Paying it forward can benefit you. The second you act with compassion, you'll start to feel better intensely. You will. So I have a few stories, but I'm only gonna, you know, tell you guys a few. Just uh one or two or three maybe. So there was one day where my uh cousin came uh came out here, flew from Oregon, and uh, you know, we spent a lot of time together. We did. We did, we spent a lot of time together. And um one day, you know, we just decided, hey, if we're gonna go somewhere, let's think about because I don't wanna, you know, I don't I don't wanna drive you all over the place, or I don't want to walk all over the place, but and I don't want to do too much because you're a guest in my state, and I want to make sure that you're comfortable, and I don't wanna make you tired because we got a lot of activities to do anyways, so why risk it, right? So when he came out here one day we're like, hey, you know what? Let's just there's a corner store up the street that we can go grab some you know supplies or whatnot. And he said, Okay, so we were walking, and uh, we see this guy, this this um elderly citizen in a wheelchair, and um he's trying to go backwards with his wheelchair from a steep hill. He's going up, but the hill's steep. Just by the airport, Salt Lake City Airport, right by there, that steep hill that leads down all the way to the holiday gas station or loves, I should say, yeah, loves, loves. And me and him are walking, we see this guy struggling. We don't know who he is. I don't know who he is for sure. I don't know who he is, it's just a stranger. I'm sure he's kind, he's got things going on, but we're not worried about where he's going. What's going on, what he's going through. We're just worried about how he's gonna get there. Well, I'm worried about how he's gonna get there. So I ask him. Actually, I don't even ask him anything. Um I see him struggling, I just take my hands, place him on a wheelchair, boom, I'm pushing him up all the way to the hill. And I ask him, I'm asking him personal questions, like you know, getting to know him and hey, where you from? What are you doing out here? Where are you trying to go? He's like, Oh, you know, lost my house, this and that. I don't have my family down here, everybody's upstairs in Towilla. I'm like, Whoa, you're out here with a wheelchair in Salt Lake City? You trying to go to Towilla, you're trying to hitchhike to Towilla? He's like, Yeah, you know, and I didn't get nothing. I didn't I didn't get way too personal about a lot of things, but we spoke, we had a decent conversation. Anyways, you know, he's like, hey, you're kind, you're a kind of gent you're a kind gentleman, and um, I don't know, I don't know who you are, what can I do for you? I'm like, yeah, nothing. You don't gotta do nothing. I just this is out of courtesy, this is out of kindness, and I love helping people out. That's the one thing about me is I love helping people out. I may have my own problems, but I always have a time to help somebody else. I love it. I'm a people's person. And um, so me and this gentleman, we have that conversation, and my um my cousins look at me like, damn, like man, um, dude, did you just do that? I was like, yeah. He's like, why'd you do it? I don't know. I don't know, it just something just told me that I had to help this gentleman out. So my cousin was so proud of me, he's like, yo, man, you inspire me. You really do inspire me sometimes. You're full of surprises. I never thought you would help somebody, a stranger that you don't even know. I'm like, hey man, this is what we do, this is what our family does. We help people. So he was very proud of me, and he felt inspired and motivated. He's like, Thank you. I'm like, Yeah, you're welcome, man. It's not that much, that's what I can do right now. Well, anyways, yeah, like I have a lot of stories that where I help a dozen of people, and when you do help people without even paying a price, it really does feel like you've done something great. I was sm I was happy that day. I really was happy that day. I dropped everything. My shoulders were loose, the weight was off my shoulders. I was smiling, I felt good about myself, I just did the right thing. And yeah, when you do something good for somebody else, it pays a lot. In upcoming days, upcoming weeks, months, years, it's gonna come back to you because you did something great for somebody. Just remember that. Also, just because you don't have the funds, the right donations, the vehicle, the house, the shelter, whatever it may be, the food, doesn't mean that you can't pay it forward. He can always pay it forward. Okay, we as humans, as one race, we must come together, we must make each other better. And I just want to say thank you to all those people. Whether we had whether whether we ended up on bad terms or good terms, I just want to say thank you for being in my life and always trying to help me out. It may not show that I didn't care, but I do. I appreciate it. I really do appreciate your time. I appreciate the help you've given me, the times you know you've fed me, the times you give me rides, the times you've vented to me or let me vent to you. Thank you to those who've who whom I've been around. Even the guys know. Thank you. Thank you. Everybody in my in my circle, thank you so much for taking care of me when the days I needed help. One of the times I had no place to go. Thank you. I want to wrap it up here. But remember to thank every single individual who has helped you in your life, who has paid it forward, and now you need to do a little favor. You need to go pay it forward. It is the month of giving, it's the holidays, but hey, you don't always have to give, give, give, give in the during the holidays. You can always give somebody. Doesn't even have to have a price on it, just pay it forward. That's all it takes. Anyways, ladies and gents, I'm gonna go ahead and uh wrap it up here. Um, thank you everyone for listening and for tuning in. I just wanted to uh you know spread some positive things, paint it forward, let's not forget about that. Paint it forward, always paint forward. Thank you. Like I always leave you. I appreciate you for your time. I appreciate I appreciate you for listening. Thank you for tuning in. You have a great day, great night, great explain time with your family. Enjoy your friends, enjoy your pets, everything, whatever you got. Enjoy and don't forget to be thankful. Okay, pay it forward, pay that back. Thank you for tuning in.