“You make a living by what you get,
but you make a life by what you give. ”
— Winston Churchill
Do you volunteer…that is, provide your time and energy for the benefit of others?
How important, how meaningful, how impactful is it that you volunteer?
Consider two layers of importance. Importance to humanity; importance to you and your purpose.
Unfortunately and sadly, the unending and immeasurable need for altruistic outreach persists. The misery and pain that begs for the healing salve of a kind action is unyielding. The news vomits the horrendous details of suffering. Major catastrophes march through our world non-stop…floods, cyclones, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, accidents, famines, epidemics, terrorism, genocide…all names for torment, distress and want.
Unfortunately and sadly, the unending and immeasurable need for altruistic outreach persists. The misery and pain that begs for the healing salve of a kind action is unyielding. The news vomits the horrendous details of suffering. Major catastrophes march through our world non-stop…floods, cyclones, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, accidents, famines, epidemics, terrorism, genocide…all names for torment, distress and want.
Those are the big, news-grabbing events. Close to you, in your community, neighborhoods, maybe your family…just as much misfortune and difficulty strikes in the small places of loneliness, alienation, aging, hunger, and heartache.
If you are looking for a place to volunteer and make a difference you can look around the world, like the disastrous convulsions now leveling the Philippines or the small town Denver foothills wiped clean by flood waters…or just maybe as close as the nearby stoop where pain has imprisoned a singular lonely soul.
As a society and in the quiet of our own prayers,
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” — C.S. Lewis
So, the world needs you.
Ironically, there is much psychological research that shows that in answering the needs of humanity, through a twist of divine mystery you may be the better beneficiary of your actions.
Dr. Suzanne Richards at the University of Exeter Medical School, reviewed the link between volunteering and health across 20 years and 40 academic studies. The review found that volunteering is associated with “lower depression, increased well-being, and a 22 percent reduction in the risk of dying.”
In the book, The How of Happiness, by Sonja Lyubormirsky studies have shown that “altruism in all its forms—kindness, generosity, compassion, volunteering, and donating money—has the potential to reward the giver as much or more than the recipient.” In one specific study, women with multiple sclerosis (MS) volunteered as peer supporters to other patients—after three years of volunteering, the positive outcomes for the volunteers were even greater than for the patients they were helping. The volunteers had developed increased self-esteem, self-acceptance, satisfaction, self-efficacy, social activity, and feelings of mastery.
“An estimated one in four Americans volunteers and a growing body of medical evidence suggests that their efforts may reap some surprising benefits. If you can join this admirable group, your effort will not only help make the world a better place, it will also create a happier and healthier you…Volunteers are not just healthier – they are also happier. Volunteers report lower rates of depression and increased satisfaction with life compared to people who do not volunteer. In the UnitedHealth Group survey, 78% of people reported that donating their time reduced stress.” Find Health and Happiness in Volunteering, Mehmet Oz, MD
A key to wellbeing and living a thriving life has been defined by the degree that you “attach yourself to something larger than yourself”. Use your strength and values to intentionally grow, learn and establish your self efficacy…through your:
- Faith
- Certain Careers
- Family
- Volunteering
There are five main reasons people volunteer according to researcher Allen Omoto, a professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate University:
Three are “self-focused”:
1. Understanding: the desire to learn new things and acquire knowledge.
2. Esteem enhancement: feeling better about yourself and finding greater stability in life.
3. Personal development: acquiring new skills and stretching yourself.
Two are “other-focused”:
4. Sense of community: making the world better.
5. Humanitarian values: serving and helping others.
Most volunteer for one reason only:
#1: You make a difference.“We live in a culture that has institutionalized self-focus and personal entitlement. If you look around, it is very clear that we need to be rescued from ourselves.
Things like debt, addiction, obesity, divorce, etc. are the fruits of a culture of self-focus, where we look for meaning where meaning cannot be found.
“There is freedom to be found in living for something bigger than yourself.
We were never designed to live isolated, individualistic, self-absorbed lives.
We will only be what we are supposed to be and do what we are supposed to do when we are living in self-sacrificing, God-honoring love for others.”
-A Quest for More, Paul David Tripp