WHAT IF VOLUNTEERING WAS A HABIT AND PHILANTHROPY A HOBBY?
Good thought! I think the world would be heavenly, don’t you think so?
According to the Merriam-webster dictionary, a habit is a settled tendency or usual manner of behaviour or it’s also defined as an acquired mode of behaviour that has become nearly or completely involuntary. Did you know that? The same dictionary also defines a hobby as a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.
Imagine doing volunteering works involuntarily and sharing the philanthropy spirit regularly and in a fun, exciting and relaxing manner. It sounds exhilarating, right? Yeah! It sounds like a world where we’d have so much fun even to spare while enjoying life with all the love, goodness and kindness; shared with all humanity everywhere, every day.
Volunteering is basically helping work that you do for someone, a community or an organization without being paid in return for it. On the other hand, philanthropy is simply the love for humankind; the love to promote the welfare of others. Think of a world where we do volunteering as a habit and philanthropy as a hobby. I bet we’d make our societies a eutopia of sorts.
We all normally have hobbies that allow us to get off our regular work routines and engage in something else that is exciting and rewarding. On a large scale, hobbies can range from reading books and literature, writing, travelling and adventure, photography, cooking, gardening, making craft, playing games and sports, etc. While doing these, we can’t help but relieve ourselves of everyday stresses. Hobbies revive our spirits and energy and soon we can be ready again for our daily routines.
Volunteering as a habit would be one rich package of experience. It will certainly give you much pleasure, a sense of inner peace and self-satisfaction as you realize the fruition of your precious efforts. In it, you get regular and continued opportunities to connect with others, learn new skills, and boosts your self-confidence.
Volunteering is also known to boost career growth, physical energy and your mental health, among many other benefits. And on top of that, it is not limited to being an opportunity to positively impact society, it is also a great deal of fun-packed experiences and memories as you meet and interact with others from diversified walks of life and backgrounds. Bottom line, it makes you a better person and creates a better community.
If we all chose a life where we habitually take on an opportunity to volunteer, we’d change many aspects of our lives and society. We’d colour the world with more love, joy, kindness, hope and goodwill; a world such as we all dream to live in. This is the true spirit and expression of philanthropy.
We can all use some love, some kindness, some help, and some goodwill from others. There’s no single day the best of us won’t need a helping hand or a comforting shoulder and a listening ear. So we’re all naturally good recipients of the philanthropic spirit. But hey that’s not all. We’re also innately able expressers and distributors of the same. It is naturally in us to be good to others and wish them the best.
We can look out for others in so many ways, hence the call to make philanthropy a hobby is simply an admonition to be the real us. You don’t need to first own all the riches in the world in order to do so. Just start with the basics you have. Have you ever thought how much your smile can do to someone? Its contagion spirit can brighten up one’s day and spread like wildfire to many others; sparkling up their countenances and revive their sunken hearts with a sense of appreciation and warm celebration.
So let’s get started! Let’s rock volunteering like a habit and philanthropy like a hobby.
If your world turns out heavenly when you do so, please remember that I wasn’t a magician, I just elucidated and opened your eyes to the immense innate power in you that performed it. You are simply a natural at it and I was just an ambassador to your awakening.
Check out amazing volunteering opportunities to get you started at VoluCulture.
This article was written by Patrick Mugera, a volunteer Content Writer at VoluCulture.
