The people I work with at SnagAJob.com volunteer – a lot. No really, my co-workers volunteer like it’s going out of style – giving their time, money and sometimes even their bodies (in a legal way) to dozens of charities. Some of them have even started their own organizations just so they would have more opportunities to volunteer.
“Oh my.” I thought when I first started working here. “I am SO out of my league.”
It’s not like I was a stranger to volunteering either. My mother (named “volunteer of the year” by her community) taught me the importance of giving back. I volunteered all through high school at the Red Cross, our elementary school and for a youth group. In college, I tutored disadvantaged kids, was a rape crisis counselor and volunteered my time at a domestic violence shelter. Right? I freakin’ know how to volunteer.
And yet, when faced with a group of amazing volunteers – I froze (at least the part of me that volunteers did). I admit it, I was intimidated. It was like having Heidi Klum stand next to you in a photo. Oh sure, you might be pretty any other day, but stick her next to you and all of a sudden you start looking more like Sloth from the “Goonies.”
How are you supposed to compete with that?
Here’s the thing. When it comes to helping others, you don’t have to (modeling, however, is another story). Giving of yourself, no matter how infrequent or how small you think it is, makes a difference. You just have to do it.
So the next time you find yourself intimidated by super-volunteers, remember this. Each one of them started out with zero volunteer hours. Each one of them is doing something small to make the world better. And each one of them is not you.
Something you do today could change someone’s life.
So what are you waiting for?
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