I’ve been a regular blood donor since 2016, the year after my stepfather died. During his fight with cancer, he needed several transfusions, so by donating I feel I am paying forward the generosity of his donors.

Donating blood really doesn’t take much effort, and after you’ve done it a few times you get used to the needles and tourniquet and all that yucky stuff. You get a soda and a T-shirt, and 15 minutes to just sit and scroll through Facebook uninterrupted. 15 minutes every two months. That’s not too much to give, right?

But to someone who needs it, your donation is everything.

Can you think of a time when someone’s simple gesture made your day? Have you ever had someone thank you for something you didn’t even realize you had done? What we give to one another, what we do for each other, matters. So when you sit down to write and you start second-guessing yourself, I want you to stop. When you start having thoughts of quitting this whole writing “thing,” when you’re wondering who in the world could possibly want to read what you’ve written, when you’re trying to convince yourself to give up, thinking, “What does it matter if I write or not?” I want you to believe that what you may so casually give could mean the entire world to someone else. So keep writing, even if it’s just for 15 minutes every two months. There’s someone out there who needs what you have to give.

Tell me how you pay kindness forward at Kate@KateLanders.com.