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Principle 2 |
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I choose to volunteer and give creatively. |
‘If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of
encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things
begin to happen.’ |
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- Loretta Girzartis |
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Summary: Have you experienced the joy that comes from
getting and the joy that comes from giving? If so, which is
greater?
The joy that comes from giving is infinitely more than from
getting.
So give to a passionate cause like finding missing
children, rescuing and rehabilitating animals in distress, or volunteering time
in a senior citizen center.
Volunteer in creative ways – with your time,
expertise, love, tolerance, knowledge, books, clothes, food, or money.
Volunteer.
Donate.
Give.
Provide. Support.
Do it happily, generously, and continually. To your friends.
To your family.
To your neighbors. To your
co-workers.
To your community. To a stranger on
the street.
To a kid in another continent.
Volunteer your time. Share your
expertise.
Offer your clothes. Give a book and
grant a wish.
Provide support. Or donate money.
Get creative and give in a multitude of ways
now:
Give not the gift of gab:
Give a smile or hug. A smile is a
sign of friendship, recognition, love, and understanding.
For yourself, smile long enough and not only will your day get brighter, but
your smile bigger
J
and bigger
J.
Hugging is also a universal act. People hug when
they are happy, sad, weak, accepting, or want to just be touched.
Starting today, every day, smile to a stranger and give a tight hug to someone
you love.
Donate food: You can donate cans of food and
non-perishable edible items to your nearest food kitchen.
You can also volunteer at your local food bank on weekends.
Find out if there are organizations in your neighborhood that collect food from
your home, free of charge – if so, donate any excess food after parties.
As world hunger reaches the 1-Billion-people mark, this small way of giving
could make a global impact of significant proportions.
Volunteer in your community: Give back to the
people who have given so much to you. Find an activity
or organization that interests you and donate your time.
Volunteering can help gain perspective on life, help overcome a personal loss,
and positively impact the lives of others. The healing
power of service is undeniable. So the next
time, don’t gripe about what’s wrong in your community – get up, go and give!
Volunteer in hospitals,
libraries, environmental organizations or state parks, city programs, special
Olympics, homeless or animal shelters, and even political campaigns.
Encourage knowledge: Give a book and you’ve
given the gift of knowledge to someone. Many of us have books
that we no longer read or need. It would be a
great deed, indeed, to give someone the gift of reading and dreaming.
'Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of
his deep and continuing needs, is good for him’ (Maya Angelou).
Give books to your local library or thrift store.
Donate clothes: Most of us are lucky enough to
have many items of clothing we do not use or want (some of them with their tags
still on!).
Give clothes to your local Red Cross office, Salvation
Army, or local charity organization. Many of them
will come to your home to pick them up. You could also
get a tax deduction for it.
Provide money: Give money to your favorite
charity.
If you have no time or expertise to share
J donate money. Donate on a
regular basis to have significant
impact.
Set up a monthly automatic deduction from your bank
checking account (Automatic Payment Service) to your charity, so even if you
forget, you are helping someone on a continued basis.
Singular action is good; sustained action is great.
So get creative and give in different ways.
‘The best
thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a
friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to
your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to
all men, charity’ (Benjamin Franklin).
If
each and every one of us did these small things, we will have collectively made
a great difference.
In conclusion, remember Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior’s words –
‘Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?’
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