PT Rehab kitchen[/caption]Carol Forsloff---“You can't help everyone.” How many times have we heard someone say that as someone struggles to assist another individual. But is that a virtually true statement or a general statement that allows people simply to absolve themselves of responsibility by a verbal shield of sorts? And are there personal benefits in helping others?
Literally the statement is true. It would be virtually impossible for a single person to help everyone else with anything. On the other hand, inventors develop products that can help nearly everyone. The Gutenberg Press was an example of that, for it facilitated the development of reading. And the Internet allows for the transference of information that includes life-saving ideas across the world that can aid millions.
Recently the Journal received a notice from an individual that simply said that humanitarian articles are a bother and asked to be excluded from any notices, as the individual “is happy” and wants to remain that way, being unable to help anyone else. Surely the human response to a massive undertaking, “You can't help everyone,” makes sense when an individual needs emotional distance. Is it, however, an emotional or physically healthy belief?
Science tells us that humanitarian work and volunteering not only provide a level of necessary activity and community involvement but also physical health benefits. Studies have found that those who volunteer receive physical, mental and social support in return for their service. By staying in contact with others, they avoid the isolation that can facilitate and prolong depression. Mentally volunteering and doing humanitarian service also supports thinking and communication skills. It has also been found that those who volunteer live longer than others.
Psychologists also tell us that helping others serves to prevent or alleviate depression. When our minds are on something other than our problems and ourselves, there is a tendency for that cloud over our heads to dissipate.
And with the passing of Nelson Mandela, the great humanitarian servant of South Africa, it is clear that service brings gratitude and change, sometimes a change that affects the whole world, when the character of a man is revealed as being one reflected by service.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Dear Carol, this article could not have come at a better time. You have given me the encouragement I needed to take up where I had to leave off yesterday afternoon, to come home and get the rest I will need for today.
ReplyDeleteA dear friend, "Patricia", who I have known since I volunteered at a local senior center, is now becoming ill and frail. Yesterday, I took her to an Urgent Care center, from which she was taken by ambulance to a hospital. I stayed with her most of yesterday afternoon in the hospital emergency room hallway, until she could contact members of her family to let them know where she was.
When family members began to show up, I knew it was time to leave matters in their hands. Last night, Patricia called me, but I was too sacked out and groggy to answer the phone. This morning, I am rested, and ready to take up my duties as friend and volunteer today and as long as will be needed.
NOTE: Until this time, every weekday morning, Patricia and I would go for coffee together, sometimes with other friends from an "art class" group we belong to. I look forward to returning to our "coffee time together" once again.
Thanks again. I am going to return Patricia's call of last night, and to get ready to head on out now.
[…] meditate and find time to serve others, all of which can divert those unhappy moments into constructive and happy ones instead. For it […]
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