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Contribution of volunteering
Heroes of our societies today
Contribution of volunteering
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What Thoughtful Acts of Kindness Can Do for You Helping someone could benefit you in a way that you may not think about. Some people go above and beyond to do something for someone else. Thoughtful acts can benefit you because you could be recognized, you’re making society a more enjoyable place to live, and you could save someone's life. The first reason you could benefit from thoughtful acts, is you could be recognized. After helping somebody, some people are recognized by people as big as Donald Trump. You could also receive an award from the government or someone else. If you help someone else, chances are, you could think big of yourself. There are many people who have been recognized for heroic acts. Who knows, you might be next! The
This is why I have worked at a local homeless shelter for the past two years. I feel like I can do the same thing -- help a person or two merely on the basis of our shared humanity. I enjoy paying back some of the help society has given me. I teach a computer class at the shelter, but everyone gets free therapy on the side. Most of those people aren't different in some essential way from the homed or those who have jobs, but life has often dealt them a losing hand to begin with. I tell them that I also had a losing hand, but I never gave up hope. Often, hope is all I had -- but it was enough to keep me pressing onward.
There are countless people who aspire to help people in their lives. However, if you think about it, nearly every career helps others in some way, shape, or form. Teachers, scientists, policemen and various other careers aid people in different ways. I, like many others, have always known that I’ve wanted to help people. Yet, I also want to do more than that. I want to help others, but also save others- emotionally or physically, mentor others, inspire others, and be there for others during their most vulnerable times. This is who I am- and I have always been this person. In first grade, I ran a lemonade stand at my school for the Make-A-Wish Foundation; I got my third grade class to raise money for starving children; and I put up with bullying throughout middle school because I befriended a girl who had trouble making friends on her own. The quality of pure selflessness and care for others that I have always possessed would allow me to do something great with my life- it just took me some time to figure out what.
According to the article, Altruism and helping behavior, it is common for people to help others. Altruism is defined as “the desire to help another person even if it doesn’t benefit the helper” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print.). Helping behavior is “any act that is intended to benefit another person”
Have you ever held open a door for someone? This is a thoughtful act. I have helped and have had people help me when I have dropped my things and it made things easier for me because I had a helping hand. Helping someone in an inconvenience can turn their day around. Helping someone could make them happier. It could also make them more confident because they know someone was there to help them. It could also help them see some good in the world if they were sad or giving up. There are many other ways that helping someone during a time of need is important.
I believe in paying it forward or as the people of Erie, Pennsylvania like to call it, #AJO, a pay it forward moment that was started in memory of a young girl who died earlier in the year due to an epileptic seizure. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small act or a large one; if it makes you feel good and it benefits someone else, then it counts. Molly Friedenfeld, author of The Book of Simple Human Truths, once said: “A purposeful act or extension of kindness to another is never wasted, for it always resides in the hearts of all involved in a chain of love.” She’s right, too, even if you pay it forward just once in your life you’ve still touched the life of someone and there is a high chance that they will pass it on. Paying it forward isn’t just buying things for people – like a pumpkin spice latte, for example. Paying it forward can be simple acts of kindness such as holding the door for someone or chasing a ball down the sidewalk for a group of children. Your mood spreads so you might as well make it a good mood.
Random acts of kindness is a great way to encourage others to be kinder to people. By doing this project we would be showing people that it is a good thing to be kind. We would be setting an example for people all around Jackson County. We feel people in Jackson County need help on how to be more kind. This is the reason why we will be doing random acts of kindness. Once or twice a week, depending on what we choose to do, we will both, separately or together, do something kind for someone without planning it out.
We often may feel like we are doing something to benefit others, but consider Darwinian evolution, which is the theory according to which species evolve by natural selection - the basic mechanism of evolution whereby those individuals in a population that are best adapted to the environment survive and produce more offspring than others, thereby altering the composition of the population and eventually the characteristics of the species. (Oxford Dictionary of Psychology, 2001). With this in mind, altruistic behaviour makes little sense. The evolutionary theory suggests that our behaviour is driven by the need to survive and reproduce, and so complete altruism should only be necessary as displayed towards our blood relatives, and not towards other members of our species. We like to believe, however, that we are doing a good deed for another, but does this ever have no benefit to ourselves?
It helps me to feel good about myself. Which only encourages me to give more. From a young age I have always found it important to volunteer some of my time back to the community. I have done things from helping with the minor hockey league, to volunteering at a daycare.
Being able to help someone is a great advantage in life. I love helping people and to be able to help my friend in his moment of need is a great pleasure in my life. When he got that truck going it was a great feeling of relief that we had done it. People will always need help with something that is why there is more than one person in the world. This experience makes me realize that everyone has their moment of need and if you help them they will help you in your moment of need.
It's true that we all need to make a difference in times of crisis and need, but we also need to strive to make a difference each day. I know that I can make a difference in the lives of many people by simply lending a helping hand or showing kindness to others. I try to take the time to cheer up my grandmother and older friends in the nursing home by paying them a visit. I know my parents stay very busy and it helps them out when I come home and lend a helping hand without being asked. I can help a friend with their homework, or sometimes help by just being there to listen to them.
If we open our lives and give service to those less fortunate than ourselves, we allow our hearts to receive immeasurable happiness. When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. Making time to help people in need creates opportunities for us to develop new and lasting relationships. Serving our fellowmen allows the best in each of us to shine through and we can become examples to our children.
Many people help just by the influence of social or personal norms. The social responsibility norm is an unwritten rule in society that people should help others in the need of help even if doing so is costly. We learn altruistic behaviour trough observing our social environment. Social norms are adapted to us by our role models. We watch others’ behaviour, and that’s how we learn particular types of social behaviour. We learn empathy and kindness during childhood development, which are taught to us as important social values. We also learn reciprocity(mutual exchange) and social responsibility, which are key social norms in society. Although many of us wouldn’t help just because the result in helping wouldn’t be beneficial for us.
...esult, the more directly one sees their personal efforts impact someone else, the more happiness one can gain from the experience of giving. Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because people all instinctively want to keep good things for themselves, but once one is over this feeling, they will feel satisfaction in knowing that they have made a difference in someone else’s life. However, if one lives without generosity but is not selfish, they can still have pleasure from other virtues.
A common misconception about volunteering is that it only helps the cause. Often times that aspect is the only part that is highlighted when the topic of donating time comes up. There is a different side of volunteering though. Many volunteers donate their time to help better the community they live in and the people that live in it. When they choose to do this they not only help others but they are also helping better themselves. Volunteering benefits a person by building connections with peers, improving family life, expanding career skills, overcoming self doubt, having lasting life impressions, and creating new opportunities.
Some of the negative effects of altruism include injury to or even the death of the helper, the lack of addressing all possible needs, burnout, a threat to justice and equality, and the promotion of indifference to those that are not in immediate need of assistance (Myers, 2010).