I heard a story which is worth sharing here. A man got promoted to a big post; he ought to be satisfied and content that day but he wasn’t happy from inside. He decided to donate some amount of money to an old age home. While he was thinking about this all in his car, he saw a woman on the other side of the road, perhaps struggling to cross the road. All of the sudden he got off the car and helped her cross the road. She was more than happy. He saw that child like glee on her face which had come due to him and at that moment he felt happy, happy from inside. Yes, this was the spiritual happiness he had been looking for.
This is called volunteerism. Volunteerism is simply made from the word volunteer which means a selfless activity, done for the welfare of society. Volunteerism is not about money at all. It’s about giving, contributing and helping the society. People volunteer for variety of reasons. Some of them want to gain new skill and experience something new, some want to meet new people and others just want to give back to their community or society which made him/her. They do it to help others and in return they get that ‘spiritual happiness’. It gives them self respect and pride.
Volunteerism is just not about collecting thousands of people to help in organizing any sport or any other big event. It’s also about magnificent things like kindness and help. Giving shelter to homeless, helping an elderly person to cross the road, helping the neighbor in his work, assisting the seniors, etc. is also volunteerism. For example: In Japan whenever Tsunami, Volcano , earthquake or any other natural disaster takes place , volunteers help the victims, manage shelter and food for them, provide first aid and help to make Japan as it is.
People donate money in organizations, old age home and orphanages. Yes, they have done good but have you seen that child like glee in an old woman’s face when a young personality gets out of his shining car and help her reach the place where she wants, have you seen that big smile on a child’s face when a caring teenager brings chocolates and toys for him. These things can never be measured in terms of money. Those volunteers themselves discover that part of their personality, that warmth of their heart which they had never felt before. This all happens because they devoted something more than money, and that was ‘themselves’. Yes that’s the power of volunteerism.
Every citizen should give back to the society that made him/her what he or she is. Values tell people what is good and important and the true meaning of life is adding values to the life which is only possible through volunteerism. Thus, each and every member of the society should promote volunteerism and uplift the spirit of volunteering in the days to come.
