Volunteering: The Highs and Lows

          

                                                                           Growing up my mom kept a framed poster of Life's Little Instructions, Vol. 2 by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. in our guest bathroom. One of the instructions that has still remains in my head is, "Volunteer, sometimes the jobs that nobody wants to do conceal great opportunity." I guess it is the combination of reading this quote for over half of my life and watching my mom always stepping up to help whenever there was a need, that has caused my to become what my husband refers to as a compulsive volunteer. He jokes that I have volunteered before anyone on a committee even realized that they need a volunteer. There are definitely days that I get overwhelmed and tired and start to wonder, "What Was I Thinking?".




It all started innocently enough. The religious education director at church had asked if I would be willing to be a substitute teacher. "Absolutely," I thought. The next year I became a full-time teacher for the Sunday religious ed classes. This was my only volunteering for two years, and I was loving the fulfillment that I got every week working with the kids. It wasn't much, but it was enough between online classes, working part-time, and homeschooling our four kids. Yet, I wanted more.

So, as my husband and I were discussing where we would have our son play flag football the next fall, it dawned on me that I could orchestrate a flag football program for our community. Little did I realize everything that it would take to start this up: obtaining a tax id, taking out insurance policies, getting others to volunteer as coaches, refs, and chain crew, sending out informational flyers, taking registration, communicating with the school for use of the fields, communicating with the parents, players, coaches, and refs, ordering jerseys, getting donations from local businesses, printing programs, getting to the games early to set things up, and solving any issues that came up.

 This was great. I was getting to put to use the education that I had earned over the years studying
business management. I was also getting to work with kids and do something great for our community. It was unexplainable how great I felt spreading the word of God with kids on Sunday mornings and working hard to start up something for our community's youth to do locally. What I didn't realize was that volunteering was becoming an addiction. The more I volunteered, the better I felt. I was on a volunteer high. I had become involved in more than 7 different programs and groups; some of which I was the sole director.

For the most part, I was riding this high and feeling great. However, there were getting to be more and more times that I was experiences extreme lows...especially on the days that I was needing to complete several volunteer responsibilities on top of activities that I had to run our own kids to. My husband watched me going through these ups and downs, and he became my saving grace. He reinforced in me that it was going to be alright if I stepped down from some of the volunteering that I was doing. He is now my sounding board when I have been asked to volunteer for something. I have learned to not say yes to anything without first discussing it with my husband. He has been such an amazing resource to me in figuring out the pros and cons of each volunteer responsibility. Had my husband not helped me figure out that I needed to step down from some volunteering, I honestly don't know where I would be....I probably would have ended up having some form of a nervous breakdown.

Yet, as I think about all of the opportunities that I have been able to experience thanks to the volunteering that I have done and I couldn't be happier with my compulsive volunteerism. The lessons that I have gained through volunteering far outnumber all of the education that I have ever received and all that I have ever learned in any paid job that I have ever had. Also, I don't think that I would ever be able to get the emotional and spiritual gain through anything other than volunteering.

Volunteering has allowed me to grow as a person. I have learned about myself and others. I have gained knowledge in how to work with adults and children (both as individuals and in groups). I know that I have done a good thing in organizing local opportunities for kids when I see the smiles on their faces as they participate and when I get text messages from parents about how sadden their child is if we had to cancel a practice due to inclement weather. I love the feeling I get when I watch a kid run a race in their best time, put on their jersey for the first time, get their first hit in the ball game, or talk about how they know that they are loved by God and what actions they can do to share God's love with others.

           Experience         confidence    

          Support    worthwhile   

           Knowledge                 Inspire

These pros of volunteering are often over looked. A lot of people look at it as what is in it for me? Can I use this volunteering to further my career? If I volunteer, will my child get more playing time? Will I get some sort of public recognition for my volunteer efforts? I can honestly tell you that if these are the things that you want to reap from volunteering, then you shouldn't volunteer. You will be let down as will the people that you are volunteering with/for. You will become burned out from the work that goes into volunteering. I will tell you this, though. If you want to truly make a difference in the lives of others with no thought about what you will gain, then you should definitely volunteer. You will find that while you went into it to help others, you also gained something from the experience. You gained all of the intangible things that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. These things can not be measured, yet I assure you that they are priceless.

Please though, check yourself as you get on the volunteer high to make sure you haven't taken on too much. Always make sure you know of all the tasks that will need to be performed as well as the time that is required before you commit to volunteering. This is a lesson that was hard for me, and I don't want to see anyone become anti-volunteering because they were scared to say no and took on too much.

What are some of the positives that you have gained from volunteering in your community?