With the holiday season already well underway, many people are preoccupied with getting the right gift, hauling out lights and decorations from the attic, and putting together a feast for family and friends. All that, plus winding up work commitments for the year, while seeing the start of the ‘best and worst’ lists for 2019.
Whatever your personal faith or belief, the week between December 25th and just after January 1st presents itself as a time, and opportunity, for reflection, accompanied by typical chatter about New Year’s ‘resolutions’ (do these EVER WORK?) and the ‘state of the world’ that we live in. The outgoing year is depicted as an aged old man, the offspring as a bouncing baby, although in recent, turbulent times, the ‘bouncing baby’ is often shown to be hesitant, even reluctant, to receive an inheritance. There’s something to be said for such hesitancy, admittedly, especially in terms of security, whether it be personal, local, national, or global. Security is measured in many ways: physical, emotional, economic, political. And in the last decade, it’s been perceived as vulnerable thanks to chronic uncertainty, plagued by feelings of doubt that are distracting, often leading to a worry verging on despair.
But, does it really have to be like this? Do WE have to be like this? What can we do to empower ourselves and others to gain at least feelings of optimism and personal security? Perhaps progress way beyond that to achieve an actual state of security? A solid ANSWER is in this blog: VOLUNTEER. Why? Just take on a volunteering role to find out.
Embark on an expedition of self-discovery in your local community. In doing so, you’ll discover that the more you fill a role to benefit others (helping them gain security), the more the role will fulfill you. It bears repeating that volunteering is a ‘win/win’ for everyone. So, with time to reflect over the holidays, spend more than a moment to address how you can volunteer in your local community, sharing a positive, caring attitude, bringing feelings of assurance, safety, security, health and wellness to those who likely need it most. And you’ll be secure in the knowledge that you will be giving an incomparable gift that will last way beyond the holiday season!