Paying it Foward

What is "paying it forward"?  What does is mean, how is it supposed to be used or taken?  The definitions I have come across tend to lean towards: phrase coined and used to describe the concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead.  Okay, I can work with this definition, and in fact by that definition can agree that I have had it paid forward to me and have, in fact, paid it forward as well....


....but I was blessed today to not only pay it forward, but in return have someone pay it BACK to me from the same thing that was paid forward.  Did that make sense?  Let me explain...or at the very least try to.  I am a writer, or aspire to be at least, and I was blessed to see the realization of a dream come to fruition.  In 2006 I published my first book "When the Masks Come Off" and got to see my dream come true in having a book written by me published into the literary world.  Was it a huge success?  Was it a great book, a timeless story?  Did I make millions and become renowned? Uh, no...but that wasn't why, and still isn't why, I write and aim for publication.  I simply love to write and want to share my stories with other's as a means of escape.


Now here is where the pay it forward comes into play.  Perk up, it's good! Lol! ;-p  There is a particular person who played a huge part in my "dream coming true", even though it is in a round about way and they actually have no idea how big a role they played in my achievement and how indebted I feel to them.  The long and short of it is, though, that I recently got the chance to "thank" them without going into detail about what they did for me.  I have been blessed to be able to strike up a semi-friendship with them, as well, and have been able to discuss my passion for writing with them.  Herein lies the wonderful part....they have a passion for writing as well and I have been able to go back and forth with our respective writings to gain objective criticisms and confidence builders.  It is fantastic, and I value it greatly....I hope that it continues to flourish.  Yesterday I revealed some of my older works and some recent ones, too.  I chose to share them with friends and family and my "pay it forward" friend.  They (my pay it forward friend) in turn were so "inspired" by something that I wrote that they wrote something amazing themselves.  And here is the denouement of the story....in reading their words I was re-inspired to write with a new passion and motivation for my own work!


So, my question is...is it truly possible for a person to pay it forward and in doing so be paid forward/back, too?  I say yes, but I would love to know what you think...