Introduction
In today’s world, automation plays a vital role in making our lives easier and better. However, the best type of automation that can make the world a better place is one that promotes the concept of “pay it forward.” Paul Park’s speech on this topic highlights the importance of this concept and how it can make a significant impact in people’s lives.
As Paul emphasized, social mobility is crucial, and paying it forward can help people who are struggling to make a living. Instead of merely saying thank you, we should strive to create a system that promotes paying it forward. It can start with something as simple as teaching a skill to someone who needs it, and then they can pass on that knowledge to others. By doing this, we can create a chain reaction of kindness and generosity that can benefit everyone.
The starfish story that Paul shared is a perfect example of how paying it forward can make a difference in someone’s life. It may not seem like much, but even a small act of kindness can have a significant impact on someone’s life.
So, let us all take inspiration from Paul’s speech and strive to incorporate the concept of paying it forward in our daily lives. Let us create a world where people help each other without expecting anything in return, and where the act of giving is its reward. With this mindset, we can create a better world for ourselves and for future generations.
Reaction.Speech Transcript
“Okay. And the title of Paul’s speech tonight is called ‘Pay It Forward’ as a replacement to ‘Thank You’. The speech will be approximately around seven minutes in consistent with International speech requirements. Paul Park, ‘Pay It Forward’ as a replacement to ‘Thank You’. Paul Park, without further ado, thank you, Toastmaster chair or everyone here.”
“I am a human being just like you. I have biological functions. I have hopes. I have dreams of times I’d like to see and remember someday. There’s not much that makes me different, but I guess it starts with my name. I am Paul Hun Park. My father was Park, one of seven Korean original clans, free DMZ. My mother was Chun Cha Bian; she apparently was the daughter of one of the first makeup empires in South Korea in the 60s. Moving on forward, I have had no contact with them, and I don’t think they know that me and my brothers exist.”
“I am the son of a refugee. I am a teacher who believes in social mobility. Social mobility is when I’m sitting on the street and eating noodles, chatting with a motorcycle taxi guy about his day and broken tie of what I’ve assembled over the years, and then after that, it’s getting on that same scooter to a five-star hotel full of sea level management and trying to see what I can do to build up what we’re trying to do with Bubble Language School, which teaches people social mobility.”
“There is a meaningless gesture these days in the way that people say thank you. Something happens, and you say thanks, and then they go about their lives. In our work these days, there are a bunch of kids whose friends are getting killed and jailed in Burma as we speak, and they are so afraid that they leave, their family gives up their life savings to legally get a visa for them to stay. They have no jobs. Their CVs are like 50 words and no skills, really, but everything they’ve built up until now with beautiful gleaming intelligence.”
“I tried to pay them minimum wage and teach them the skills that it would take to earn more than that. Scale it out, put it on Google Sheets, and teach them away. As they do this, they help the school. I try to teach them to teach themselves and then teach others because my life is bonus.”
“When my father was on the plains of North Korea, there were bombs overhead, and he got hit with a piece of shrapnel. He was bleeding out, and he was saved by a U.S. soldier, whom then took to Seoul. So, I always maintained in my life that had that not happened, had that not happened, I would not be here, and every life I’ve touched or tried to teach this concept would never have existed, so it’s a bonus.”
“There are so many systems in this world where, if you build it correctly, it’s an engine to pay it forward. These days people say thank you to me, and I still get that weird and awkward feeling, but I try to brush it off and focus on what I’m doing: building a system that pays it forward. It’s totally possible. That cliche of ‘you can do anything that you put your mind to’ just needs a little edit and update. Anything is in brackets. Anything is just whatever you can build with the resources you have available to you at your fingertips with morality and trying to change a meaningless gesture intosomething you try to just brush off and move forward with because that’s the best way to react to it, don’t you think, where there are people who need it for a wide range of reasons?
So, I always love this core story that I’m going to end this time with, and it’s from Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s called the starfish story, and I always love telling the story.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico there was a man on the beach. He saw a native bending down to pick up a starfish and throw it out into the ocean. Curious, the foreigner went to the native and asked him, “What are you doing? What are you doing that’s so weird?”
And the native smiled and replied, “Well, you see sir, all of these starfish wash up onto the shore, and when low tide comes, they die. So I’m saving them.”
The foreigner looked up and down the beach and imagined hundreds of thousands of starfish, and he said, “You can’t possibly save all of them. What is wrong with you?” The native smiled again, and he looked at him meaningfully, purposefully bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the ocean so that it skipped three times. He smiled at the foreigner and said, “Made a difference to that one.”
So, pay it forward. Instead of saying thank you, it’s a good way to live. Thank you.”
Original Story Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I trust and support these individuals because I see the genuine need in their eyes and the potential for real impact on their lives.
The value of improving their situation and leaving a lasting impression on them is priceless. I take pride in setting an example and making the world a better place in my own small way, and I hope to inspire others to do the same.
Because at the end of the day, when our time on this earth is up, it is the human connections and positive impact we leave behind that truly matter.