Volunteering for a purpose

Volunteering for a purpose (Hint: It’s not just gaining experience)

Humans were designed to live their purpose. The when and where is beyond our control. The why is something we are responsible for. During simpler times, when roles were defined, helping the community and doing more were weaved into everyone’s way of life. Today, we don’t live that kind of slow and deliberate life. Even with all the mindfulness practices, we spend so much time trying to catch up with the rest of the world around us.

The cliched idea that volunteering is for those who are unemployed to gain exposure is a thing of the past. Thanks to social media, exposure and experience can be acquired in so many different ways. Here are a few ways volunteering helped me beyond my full-time job and regular life.

Perfect place to experiment – Being a volunteer meant I had people to listen to my ideas. Even though some were good and some were bad, I received genuine feedback. The diverse background of our team members ensured that my ideas were visited from different points of view. Being able to experiment gave me insight into issues I didn’t even know existed and sharpened my skills to be able to find solutions for them.

Make life-long connections – Having been a part of Green Schools Green Future for a few years now has allowed me to meet amazing volunteers from different backgrounds. Hearing their stories and seeing them grow has been pivotal in forming a friendship even outside our work. This happens because we share common values that mold us. Today these connections are my constant source of support.

Find my passion – Volunteering is how I found my spark. After leading an unmotivated life and going with the flow, being able to assist someone with a purpose, led me to my purpose. I had to volunteer at different organizations with different motives to understand what I wanted to do. Being able to work with them and understand the nitty-gritty of such organizations opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

Triggers a new awakening – An entirely new side of the world I was living in opened up to me when I started spending time with volunteers. Seeing people who needed me helped me embrace my capacity to make a change. This resulted in me taking a deeper look at my life and goals. We often forget or avoid contemplating our way of being and making ourselves available of service to someone empowers us to do so. Volunteering strengthens our fundamental connections and broadens our perspectives. It is an education everyone needs. It elevates our emotional capacity in a way this uncertain world doesn’t. In a way, volunteering has aided me to equip myself with the emotional intelligence much needed in today’s world.

The question I ask here is who is being of service to whom? At Green Schools Green Future we are a group of dedicated volunteers committing our time and efforts to build schools that teach children how to live in harmony with nature, cultivate practical skills and foster a worthy generation where uncertainties will not deter them from their path. To learn more about our cause, click here. To become a volunteer, click here. 

Written by: Kritika Rao

Volunteering-1-700x400

Share Post:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit exceeded. Please complete the captcha once again.

Signup for Our Newsletter