Volunteering: The Benefits of Being of Service

Volunteering: The Benefits of Being of Service

I am not going to have a bunch of fancy statistics to back up this piece because being of service is such a personal thing. This is a pure experience bit about how volunteering is beneficial to every aspect of my life and how being of service to other people and organizations benefits my business and my life.

My experience as an American growing up in the 80’s and 90’s is one of greed and consumption. The culture I grew up in was one defined, to me, by movies like “Wall Street,” credit card debt, striving to get the must haves, luxury goods on credit, and living paycheck to paycheck. And these are all things that I did.

I based my self-esteem on what I had and what I did and I lived like this for a long time because that is what I learned from seeing it portrayed in media and social norms. I used to think I needed five things to be an adult: a corporate job, a German car, a platinum card, a nice apartment, and a Mont Blanc pen and pencil set.

Fast forward to 2006 when my life and the economy were both falling apart and even though I had learned a lot I still based my self-esteem on outward things—in the end, I only cared about myself and things were getting dicey. Suffice to say I was no longer a soulless monster but things were getting a little too real for me to keep living in a fantasy world.

But I got to the point where I needed something else; I could not go on living for myself alone. At this point I could have started a family—a sure fire way to make a chadult (child + adult) grow up fast. But I know that any family not based on a good foundation will just disintegrate eventually so I made the decision to be a responsible adult first.

Since all of my role models were no longer appropriate for who I wanted to be I needed to get some new ones fast. I got an idea about what I think responsible adults do and behave by first reading about people that I thought were admirable, then by going out and finding a new mentor. In addition to them all being solid about living within their means, having personal integrity and a general responsible-ness seeping from their pores there was something else.

The common thread running through all of the people I read about and the ones I was meeting were that they volunteered and were of service to others.

My prior experience with service was not something I learned in school or from my parents or from society in general. I am an American human being and service is not what we are normally about. Being in sales and self-employed, I always had to be involved in something to keep my name out there. I did service, but for mercenary reasons.

I originally volunteered because I expected to get something in return.

In my further adventures with volunteering I found that I would feel better about myself by volunteering or being of service to others. Also the other people I volunteered with generally liked me and because I refuse to date on-line this had additional benefits.

I then started volunteering to make myself look better to other people and to feel better about myself.

Now I do not think there is anything wrong with either of those reasons for volunteering. At least I was out there giving back to the things I thought would bring me business or where I could get a date. The important thing I learned later was that I was practicing giving back to the community that I heretofore had only taken and expected things from.

I wish I could say I had an epiphany after reading “The Saint Francis Prayer” or a white light came down and struck me grateful but neither of those things happened. What did happen was that I began, through attrition, to realize that I really benefitted from being of service to other people and that realization began to influence me in ways that went totally opposite from what I had learned growing up and my experiences as an adult.

I learned to be of service to others without expectations and anonymously.

I am still practicing this.

My experience with volunteering and giving back to the community is that it has increased my business and improved my life. I am still looking for a date but, hey, all things in time.

The difference today is that if no direct personal gain comes from volunteering, or donating, I am OK with that. My perspective has changed. Being of service to other people and volunteering and donating spurred a change in perspective from thinking about what I can get, to thinking about how I can give. My life is better for it.

If you have any other questions, or want to share your story, please reply to this post, contact me via my website, my facebook page, or on Twitter @AmericaFoy.