The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well, weeks after the devastation wrought by two destructive weather conditions. The volunteers in ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya, for example, came from all age groups and varying backgrounds. Most of them arrived in groups — families, officemates, barkadas, among others — all standing up to bring help or to eagerly send forth ripples of hope to the victims. Having been, for days, exposed to acts of volunteerism in relief operations, this writer lists 10 observations worth sharing:
• We are not alone. A volunteer team will not be able to row its way to authentic achievement without the assistance of other groups or other people. We are not alone. When we have to row, we have to row as one, or we will never make it to our intended destination or achieve our goals of helping. The spirit of volunteerism flourishes when we do the rowing with the thought that the preeminent mode of working efficiently — and yes, merrily — down the path to our target is to bring others along with us on our journey. When we bring efficiency and merriment to other people’s hearts and minds, our own heart and mind becomes efficient and merry as well. There can be no more immense return than that. By our actions as volunteers, we can say, “Look, we’re all in this together. We’re going to spend a great amount of time to help pack relief goods, join deployment teams, answer telephone calls or even provide entertainment.” In other words, we execute what needs to be executed.
• Light moments can ease the attendant difficulties. Volunteer work may prove overwhelming and demanding, but as much as we can, we should inject nimble flashes, create a vibrant relationship among fellow volunteers and the individuals being served, and keep the energy and enthusiasm burning as the tasks, at some point, can be daunting. If we are not tuned in to the paradigm of “having fun while volunteering,” we’re going to wind up wasting most of our time and resources.
• Do it not to be seen but to genuinely help. Few things can help us better in our volunteer effort than realizing that each member of the team doesn’t play just a minor role in the work that has to be accomplished. We have the lead role and what happens is monumentally influenced by the authenticity of our actions.
• Do the right thing right here, right now. There are many different doorways to fulfillment in volunteerism. What should we do to be fulfilled? For a start, just do what’s right in front of us… fast. If we’re in a boat, for example, we need to row that boat. We just don’t row it once, we need to row, row, and row again and again. Rowing our boat with vigor and consistency is essential to achieving the realization of our desired level of performance. We can’t afford to just sit down and observe other people. We need to be quick with our hands, agile in our moves, and caring in our behavior. On the other hand, rowing with energy, vitality, and steadiness will get us absolutely nowhere if we are rowing on only one side of the boat. If we are not satisfied with the assigned duty, then we must offer to do other things where we can contribute better and make ourselves feel rewarded.
• Merrily spend time with people who need people. Conventional business wisdom says that work, including volunteer work, is not supposed to be fun. That’s why it’s called “work”! Many examples prove that, in fact, the reverse happens. Among the benefits to having fun at volunteerism is that it serves as a stress reducer, to say the least. It makes us feel good inside, boosts our morale, heightens our social responsibility quotient and uplifts our soul. We gain all this because the true secret of fun in volunteerism is that we like to spend time with people who need help.
• Make it a purpose-driven act. As we probably noticed in our own lives, there is a profound correlation between helping and happiness. Our life cannot truly be called “well-lived” if it does not bring us happiness. In fact, a well-lived existence and happiness are one and the same — two different labels but with one meaning. Authentic happiness is not caused by external events or by things such as amassing wealth, getting a great job, having an enviable position, or winning the lottery. We can’t find happiness. Happiness finds us when we live our life in a purposeful way that is uniquely our own — like bringing relief to the weary, joy to the downtrodden, or peace of mind to the trauma sufferer.
• The commitment to volunteer makes a difference. It satisfies our want to achieve something and strengthens our motivation for self-empowerment. It also gives value and recognition to our volunteering act, making it part of our personal and professional growth, provides a venue for networking, affords training and exposure, and offers a platform to demonstrate our sense of duty as it allows us to manage our level of dedication and obligation.
• Reality is constantly fluid and changing. There is no one true way to view the world. Once we learn to be open and flexible to what is happening around us, and once we accept “going with the flow” of reality, then it is much easier for us to journey “gently down the stream” of volunteerism. When we allow our life to do this, we trust that we are open to the notion that we can truly find meaning and value in life, no matter what other commitments we have at the moment.
• Negative situations are called “burning problems” with good reason. If people hold on to them too tightly, they’re sure to get burned. When holding tightly to that burning problem begins to cause them pain, the best thing they can do is just let it go. This is a mindset trauma-help volunteers can propagate as they extend psychological and psychiatric help to victims who find difficulty accepting the disaster that befell them and moving forward to start anew.
• We all have a bit of Mother Teresa within us wanting to come out. The volunteer’s role has traditionally been to take risks, to encourage others to join the bandwagon, to leave their comfort and safety zones, and to explore life more fully by helping others. Most important, volunteer work is a way to hold other people’s hands, give care, albeit momentarily, and bring them from the dark into the light.
Our life becomes a dream when we are traversing a road that we sincerely love — a road we have chosen without restraint. Happiness is about shaping an external reality that is in harmony with our internal passion like doing good — right here, right now. When we have clarity about what real happiness is for us, we can, as the unforgettable nursery rhyme goes, “Row, row, row the boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, for life is but a dream.”
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E-mail bongosorio@yahoo.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions and suggestions. Thank you for communicating. –Bong R. Osorio (The Philippine Star)
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