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by Dayle Haddon
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“When I give,
I give myself.”
–Walt Whitman |
Looking beautiful on the outside is
worth nothing if we feel emptiness in
our souls. Unfortunately, in this fastpaced,
helter-skelter world it is easy to lose
our sense of belonging. This loss of connection
has an impact on our health and our
well-being. It can also make us feel old before
our time. Connecting with others—learning,
sharing and giving—speaks to the best part
of us. Acts of giving, both simple and grand,
contribute to our sense of purpose. I can
think of nothing more aging—inside or
out—than losing this inspiration.
As soon as we are part of something
bigger, we no longer feel alone. And this,
quite simply, is a firm foundation for
happiness and good health. Studies are now
revealing that the more friends and connections
we have, the greater the variety of our
social contact and the better our health.
In a study published in the British
Medical Journal, doctors followed 2,761
people over the age of 65 for 13 years. The
researchers tracked the participant’s activities
in 14 areas such as swimming, social
connections and volunteerism. The results
were incredible. Participants who had
strong social connections, such as those
that volunteered, were physically as healthy
as the participants who spent time only
exercising. Other studies at Cornell
University have shown that people who
volunteer suffer fewer illnesses and live
longer than those who don’t.
So linking with any community or
group, from a charity organization to an
afternoon reading club for children, is
life-giving. I’m not suggesting that we
volunteer to extend our life, only that when
we do give of our time and of ourselves, we
improve the type of life we lead.
Volunteerism touches on each of the areas
of life that I consider most important:
beauty, wellness, wisdom and community.
When I volunteer, I am pulled from the
concerns of my day-to-day life to a state of
living where I am more apt to recognize the
beauty around me, more driven with meaning
and intention, more connected to my
spirituality and more confident in the
power I hold to make a difference.
How ironic that while our acts of kindness
may begin with a desire to improve the
life of another, we are reminded of the
many blessings and small miracles in our
own life during the process. There is no
more affirmative statement of our own life
than spending part of it helping others.
At a very difficult time in my life I
volunteered at Cedars-Sinai Hospital,
spending time with children undergoing
cancer therapy in what was called “play
therapy.” The children ranged in age
from two to 12 and it was my job to spend
time with them while they waited for
chemotherapy. Trying to comfort and
entertain children suffering through such
an obviously painful and traumatic experience
was a challenge. Sometimes members
of their families were also struggling with
conflicting emotions about the focus being
on the sick child; they too needed attention.
So it was important for me to be
involved with the entire family. Over time I
found that as I helped others, I really
helped myself. I was so focused on healing,
giving, loving and sharing around me, I
forgot about my own difficulties. I realized
that my problems were not the biggest nor
the most devastating in the world and that
my pain, though personal and crushing,
was a universal emotion, part of the fabric
of life. Such revelations gave me perspective
and strength and helped me survive my
difficult time.
There are of course, countless ways to
volunteer. We can use our voice, our life
experience, time, skills, companionship or
money to change lives. And, in the greater
scheme of things, I’m fairly certain that working to help others—be it a friend,
family member, or a stranger—is what we
were put here to do.
One of the things that sometimes discourages
us, however, is worrying that we
don’t have enough talent or time to
contribute anything significant. First of all,
we all have talent. We are each able to give
our experience, goodness and willingness.
This is the gift of ourselves. An act as simple
as sharing a challenging story is enough to
give hope to someone facing a similar circumstance.
As for time? Most charities and
community groups are happy to have any
help, for however short a time—even just
once a month or on a project-by-project
basis. When trying to find a group to provide
services to, begin by asking yourself what age
group you feel most comfortable with, which
passion inspires your life and which issue
captures your heart. Some people share with
me that they have been able to reconnect
with a forgotten part of themselves through
volunteerism. In the age of the Internet it is
even possible to volunteer without leaving
home, by being a “virtual” volunteer. Virtual
volunteers lend support and encouragement
via e-mail correspondence.
In other words, whatever we give, we will
get back manyfold. Giving is spirituality in
action; it is the ultimate investment in others
and in ourself. By volunteering in our community
we can make a difference in the lives
of those we touch, as well as our own.
The Internet has made researching volunteer
opportunities in local communities so much
easier. Visit one of these Web sites to look for
charities and volunteer organizations in your
community.
Charity America,
www.charityamerica.com
Charityamerica.com is an online village that
unites donors, volunteers, business and
qualified charities from across the U.S. Users
can research volunteer opportunities within a
five-mile radius of their zip code. Search
from a variety of categories ranging from
administrative, sports, music, to literacy.
Volunteer Match,
www.volunteermatch.org
Volunteer Match utilizes an online database
to match organizations in need with volunteers.
Users search one-time and ongoing
opportunities by zip code, category and date
and are able to sign up by e-mail.
America’s Promise,
www.americaspromise.org
Colin L. Powell is founding chairman of
America’s Promise, an organization whose
mission is to fulfill five promises to youth: to
foster mentoring relationships; to develop
safe havens for children after school; to give
children a healthy start, which includes
health care and education; to provide
children with marketable skills; and to offer
volunteer opportunities for children to give
back to their communities.
Virtual Volunteering Project,
www.serviceleader.org/vv
VVP is part of the Volunteerism and
Community Engagement Initiatives at the
University of Texas at Austin. Electronic volunteer
opportunities include communicating
with the homebound, mentoring young
adults, providing homework assistance to
students or assisting adults looking to
improve their job skills.
Visit Dayle at www.dayle.com.
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