The Difference Volunteering Makes!
- skrawic
- Sep 13, 2014
- 3 min read
I had a typical Steve day this weekend.
September 14th, 2014
Went to bed Friday night knowing what I was going to accomplish on Saturday and Saturday morning. And of course life happens again!
I went to get a snack at the concession stand at my local soccer fields and take
in a hot early fall soccer match. The sound of laughing kids, yelling coaches,
whistles, birds, and airplanes approaching the airport are all an interesting
background symphony I have been enjoying for years. I never minded the early
morning dew, rain, chill or screaming kids, I figured that this is supposed to
be the good part of life, right? Usually as a parent, you have to volunteer for
at least one shift, or coach, or do something in a recreational league. Not
everybody gets that, or cares about it and it always leaves a gaping hole in the
need vs. resources department at soccer, baseball, or whatever your town’s
recreational leagues are.
I went to the snack shack to find Paul, an awesome guy I had never met before,
slaving away trying to do three things at once- prep cook, cook, and serve to
anyone who wanted a world class breakfast sandwich for $1.50, a cup of coffee,
donut, hash brown, or even his own home made fruit cup or chicken fingers which
he marinates in buttermilk for two days before breading in cracker crumbs.
Unfortunately nobody showed up to help out, and it was a little busy. I asked
him if he needed help and figured that I had about 30-40 minutes before I had to
leave and accomplish all I set out to do with the day. The lines kept coming
and I fell into a groove. It felt great! I was having fun with the customers,
trying to do fast math in my head as I took money and doled out change, made
more fruit cups, stocked more beverages, and kept serving waters as it was both
hot and humid and creeping hotter. I figured if Paul could volunteer, stand
next to the grill on a day like that, and never complain, then I had to have
fun. All of the parents, grandparents, coaches, referees, etc. kept coming and
coming and coming. I told my girlfriend that I had to stay and for her to come
and pick me up later. Which turned out to be a few hours later as the time
easily flew by.
I went home and realized I only had time to do one dump run, and couldn’t do the
shopping, or other things I had on my list to accomplish. At night I always
find a moment or two to think about my day and think about the next day so I
usually wake up with focus. I realized as I was taking in my day that I really
hadn’t accomplished what I set out to do with my day off. I also realized that
my volunteering “Gig” ended up being the best part of my day. I started to feel
selfish about it, like I should had been working more at home and not been
having so much fun at the field, but if that’s selfish I need to sign up for
more.
I have volunteered in many forms, in many places over the years- food shelters,
soccer coach, baseball coach, working on the sports fields, cub scouts, robot
coach, whatever I thought I could make a difference with what little time I
have. The problem is, I haven’t done enough of this in the past few years.
Work and life have gotten in the way, and although I try to do as much as possible for my family and step in here and there, I haven’t done enough. My
schedule is hard! But check out this article on WebMD:
happier-study-finds
Volunteers are not only happier, they are healthier?
So my message to you is to try and volunteer whenever and wherever you can. It
is a healthy activity that makes a very positive difference in someone’s life
including your own. Go ahead...Volunteer....BE SELFISH!
Steve
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