We all want to be happy in our lives, we feel that happiness can be found through buying expensive materials for ourselves. However, the ancient enlightened souls such as Gautama Buddha has preached that true happiness does not come from materialism. The only way to keep ourselves happy is to make others happy.
Volunteerism is an ability that we acquire at a very early age. We are compassionate beings from nature and we develop altruistic traits as we grow up.Volunteerism is not only the backbone of civil society organizations and social and political movements, but also of many health, education, housing and environmental programmes and a range of other civil society, public and private sector programmes world- wide. It is an integral part of every society. There are somethings in our lives that we do from our heart. Volunteerism comes from within and is not influenced by external factors. Compassion can be defined as the ability of a person to empathize with someone else’s pain and suffering. Its the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes.
One of the most powerful ways for youths who are trying to pursue a career in their lives is to understand and experience the type of leadership needed for the future jobs is to do volunteer work early in their careers. This is because the type of leadership at the top is akin to being a leader of volunteers, it is not about carrots and sticks but about persuasion and getting people to grasp and follow one’s vision.
Volunteering is the perfect vehicle to discover something a person is really good at and develop a new skill. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” It is never too late to learn new skills and no reason why we should stop adding to our knowledge just because we are in employment or have finished education. Planning and implementing a major fundraising event can develop goal setting, planning and budgeting skills. Supervising and training other volunteers helps to develop supervisory and training skills. These are examples of skills that can enhance a career but we don’t have to develop skills with the intention of facilitating our career. Painting a mural or making banners for International Volunteer Day – to celebrate the wonderful and priceless work that volunteers do – could gently push you to discover graphics and art talents.
In essence, Volunteerism lies at the hearts of people who are passionate about something and it is certain that the power of volunteerism will be strengthened and shine through in the years ahead.
