Recently, I started volunteering for a crisis center called Crisis Textline. I didn't know what to expect, whether it would be challenging for me, discourage me from pursuing my psychology career, or give me some sort of idea of what I would be in for if I decided to continue on my journey towards working with counseling people, etc. What I received from this experience has been nothing short of eye-opening, inspiring, amazing, and ultimately life-changing. Yes, that all probably sounds incredibly overwhelming and a little crazy, but it's the truth.
Volunteering
Volunteering your time in general is an amazing feeling. I had never volunteered my time or "worked for free" unless it was an internship and ultimately something for myself. Volunteering my 4-12 hours a week to be ears (or eyes, in this case), to a stranger to open up to is an incredibly amazing feeling. There has truly been no more fulfilling feeling, knowing that those 4-12 hours of free time that I'm "giving up" are helping someone else.
A sense of purpose
It's easy to feel like you don't belong in a world that is constantly changing. People are constantly rushing around other people and chances are that if you're in your twenties (like I am), you're working at a job where customers rarely say "thank you" or even bother to get off their phones when speaking to you. Nothing has given me such a sense of purpose as reading "I feel so much better now, thanks for being there for me." Your life suddenly isn't just yours in that moment. In that instant, you were exactly what someone needed, not just an associate ringing up someone's groceries or cleaning up someone's mess.
It could always be worse.
When you're feeling bad about your life because you failed a test or didn't get that new phone you wanted, there is someone who's parents are dying of cancer or feels so unsupported that they are afraid to speak to people close to them. There is always someone going through something harder than you, which doesn't mean your own problems are insignificant, it just means that there is more than just "I".
Support, in any form, can be the best thing for someone.
Sometimes, people just need a friendly voice or tone from a stranger to make them feel better. Sometimes people just need someone to listen to them or just need to hear that they are strong for dealing with something in their lives. Support in any form is appreciated. Not everybody has a strong support system.
And last, but not least. You learn that there is more to the world than just yourself. It has been the most eye opening experience being the person that can help someone (even if it's just for a little while) with their problems or feelings. There are more people in the world than there are you, and they all have their own feelings. In realizing this, I've learned to be more sensitive, you never know who is going through something when you see them in the hallway or talk to them online.
To all the people who want to volunteer, do it. It will hands down be the best decision you ever make!
