I am giving back this year

A thought came to mind this morning. It is not a new idea because, in fact, I’ve been doing it last week without knowing. This new thought is about making 2019 a year to give back.

First Instance

Last week, I stumbled upon the Green Race website when I saw a friend running with them on a casual Wednesday night, and I wanted to join. My eyes incidentally landed on the “Volunteer” tab and without overthinking it, I signed up to be a volunteer in their upcoming beach & trail cleanups and races. Why am I interested in that? I like to read about environmental issues and I have a strong feeling to do something after seeing all the plastic ruining our oceans and beaches.

An anecdote to go along with this. I remember a few months ago when I was on the street, I chatted with a rep from an NGO and she asked me for monthly donations. Since I have a regular donation to World Vision for a little girl in Ethiopia, I asked for other volunteer opportunities that I can help physically. She mentioned beach and trail cleanups and got me excited. What happened next turned excitement into frustration. She also said I have to be a member in order to participate, which implied I should make a monthly donation. This is frustrating. Why is it so hard trying to help?

Second Instance

This morning, I saw on Instagram Story that a college friend is working on some plain HTML. I asked her why. Because no one ever uses plain HTML files anymore. I went on to offer to teach her how to build a WordPress site for the blog she has been wanting to do.

I have never been a big “volunteer” person in my life. This year, I am picking up the mindset of giving. It doesn’t matter whether it is for the environment or for the people around me. I got to where I am today because people helped me, and I think it is time to give back.