Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Chris Bennett

Editor’s Note: It the difficult times we are facing with financial and job crises, the need for volunteers in every community is growing.  We are tempted to focus on ourselves because of the fear and uncertainty seemingly in the news every day.  It is our hope that after reading this article you will see that volunteering not only helps others, but it helps each of us.  Approaching volunteering with gratitude will leave each of us feeling better and greedy for more of this feeling every day.

Even to most amiable of people, mental ruts seem to find their way to the forefront of any given personality.  Signs of such an impersonal emotion are strong amounts of irritability and discontentment mixed with downright ill tempered attitudes.  These traits more than likely do not represent who you are, hence the term ruts.  

For me, mental ruts are extremely frustrating because I am consistently on the go and my life moves very fast.  So I ask … how is it possible to not only find a simplistic way of relieving that unwanted crabbiness but also find a way to channel that off-putting energy to good use?  

The answer is helping others by volunteering your time. It creates a strong sense of self- worth and helps bolster your self-esteem.  Rest assured there are countless ways to get involved in any number of activities in and around your community. If you have a church, hen this is always a great place to start as most churches organize volunteer projects throughout their communities.

For me, volunteerism helped me realized that there are problems much bigger than my own.  It’s humbling, and gives me a sense of gratitude for the things I normally may take for granted.

My first experience with active and consistent volunteerism was with Habitat For Humanity, a non-profit organization that builds cheap and reliable housing for those who otherwise would not be able to afford a roof over their head.  At that time in my life I was a very irritable teenager filled with a great deal of angst over what I considered a severe lack of personal independence.  Every Saturday morning for one full summer though, it was made clear to me by way of my family that in order to prove myself creditable of earning privileges of independence I had to put in time helping those in need in order to understand that there are certain privileges I should never take for granted.

The more I worked on the houses the more I got to know the families that were to occupy them when my job was done, thereby putting a face on the reason to volunteer.  I even received a Christmas card from one family thanking me for helping them get a solid roof over their head signed by all three kids, all under the age of 12.  

That summer changed my life.

My point is, volunteering made every one of my days feel like a good day, whether I was working on a house or not.  It gave a sense of purpose and filled my days with a good sensation.   Instead of counting down the days of being “trapped” at home, I started volunteering around the house and eventually even got paid for some trade work that I happen to have learned while working with Habitat.  No more were any ruts creeping up on me because I had found my solution to an unbelievably frustrating problem - what to do with my spare time.

How can this apply to you and your life?

Ask yourself if there is any type of help you can give when things are simply not going your way.  Find the line between selflessness and selfishness, and work towards something you find personally rewarding.  Make your day count by making some else’s a little brighter. 

“Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.”
[Ezekiel 25:17 ]

“A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.”
-Jack London

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