Sometimes, I fall into a rut. I'm bored, I'm depressed, I feel unfulfilled in my job, I have no friends...lots of happy thoughts. Screw it, I'll think. I'm moving back to Montana to live with my parents.
Because that will make me feel much more accomplished. Right.
Point is, sometimes I turn into a whiner. This happens to all of us at one point or another - life just gets us down. It could be because of one particular event, or several, or perhaps none at all. (Doncha just love when its the latter?)
Since we all know how fun it is to hang out with depressed, mopey whiners, I'm gonna share with you a secret cure that will boost your spirits and transform you back into a productive member of society: go volunteer.
Seriously, people. Give back to your community. When you're stuck inside your own head and can't see past your own problems (and if they're like my problems, they probably don't matter much in the grand scheme o' things), go help someone else out with their problems. Help hand food out at a homeless shelter. Donate an afternoon at a nursing home. Volunteer to baby-sit for a small-group (but only if you click with kids...that rules me out).
For me, I prefer to volunteer with manual labor. Enter Habitat for Humanity -- they help build homes all over the world, as well as right here in DC. Also turns out they have a handful of building sites only a short distance from where I live, which led to me donating my Saturday yesterday so I could climb on ladders with a caulking gun.
I would do it again in a heartbeat. And I will likely do it again at least one Saturday a month from now on.
I don't know about your families growing up, but in my family the weekends were work days. Mowing the lawn, landscaping, seeding/fertilizing/spraying for weeds in the pastures, building fences (you haven't lived until you've dug in fenceposts by hand...every summer), fixing the sailboat, repairing the barn, the list goes on and on...
My point is, manual labor is comforting to me. It reminds me of home, and reminds me that there's more I can do with this body of mine than ride the Metro to work and sit in front of a computer screen all day. (Did I mention how corporate work was slowly killing me? No? Another post then.)
So, go volunteer. Check out Habitat for Humanity. Or check out another organization that's more up your alley. But get out of your own head, and get out of your own problems -- go help someone else.
Because that will make me feel much more accomplished. Right.
Point is, sometimes I turn into a whiner. This happens to all of us at one point or another - life just gets us down. It could be because of one particular event, or several, or perhaps none at all. (Doncha just love when its the latter?)
Since we all know how fun it is to hang out with depressed, mopey whiners, I'm gonna share with you a secret cure that will boost your spirits and transform you back into a productive member of society: go volunteer.
Seriously, people. Give back to your community. When you're stuck inside your own head and can't see past your own problems (and if they're like my problems, they probably don't matter much in the grand scheme o' things), go help someone else out with their problems. Help hand food out at a homeless shelter. Donate an afternoon at a nursing home. Volunteer to baby-sit for a small-group (but only if you click with kids...that rules me out).
For me, I prefer to volunteer with manual labor. Enter Habitat for Humanity -- they help build homes all over the world, as well as right here in DC. Also turns out they have a handful of building sites only a short distance from where I live, which led to me donating my Saturday yesterday so I could climb on ladders with a caulking gun.
I would do it again in a heartbeat. And I will likely do it again at least one Saturday a month from now on.
I don't know about your families growing up, but in my family the weekends were work days. Mowing the lawn, landscaping, seeding/fertilizing/spraying for weeds in the pastures, building fences (you haven't lived until you've dug in fenceposts by hand...every summer), fixing the sailboat, repairing the barn, the list goes on and on...
My point is, manual labor is comforting to me. It reminds me of home, and reminds me that there's more I can do with this body of mine than ride the Metro to work and sit in front of a computer screen all day. (Did I mention how corporate work was slowly killing me? No? Another post then.)
So, go volunteer. Check out Habitat for Humanity. Or check out another organization that's more up your alley. But get out of your own head, and get out of your own problems -- go help someone else.
Nice job Aff. Love Pop
ReplyDeleteAftan - thanks for making feel good about myself- I've been volunteering at a soup kitchen once a week.
ReplyDelete