Shine from within, Give. (Part II)

Well, if you have read my previous post about giving (part I) , this is a continuation of it! And if you have not, you probably should!

So, my fifth and final point of Giving, is… …

5. Time

Undeniably, time is precious to us and we try the best use out of it. Be it for our own achievements and successes, pleasure and joy, most of us live to make ourselves and our treasured loved ones happy.

It is easy to be willing devote time to ourselves and the people we love. But what about giving towards…

STRANGERS

Giving our time to strangers; people that you completely do not know at all. 

Well, let me share with you about my journey into volunteerism.

There was a point in my life where i felt like I had it all.

Everything seems going fine. But I wasn't happy, there was this emptiness inside of me that needs to be filled.

Without knowing why, I went online and I came across this website called 

Source: http://www.sgcares.org/

And i thought, perhaps i could give volunteering a try! And that was where I got started! 

Every Saturday, I started offering my time to a group of elderly at a nursing home called ‘All Saints Home’. Initially, I thought that ‘hey, since i am volunteering, I want to bring joy to them'. 

But I never knew how wrong could I had been. After volunteering for close to a year and a half, I realized that they had actually made me even happier than what I did for them.

Every week, i would listen to their banter, I was able to see things in their perspective. And it was inspirational, the tough lives they led, persevering throughout all circumstances.

After listening to them, some weeks, we would have buffet session. 

While other weeks, we would have a great time of 'Arts & Crafts' .

Besides all the fun chatting with those 'Ahma' and 'Ahgong' who are healthy ...

My heart does breaks so much when I see some of the bed-ridden elderly. 

These were the folks who couldn’t speak nor eat properly. Time was merely a parasite that slipped by their fingers and gnawed at their bones, wasting them away day by day.

There was this particular time when I held a bed ridden elderly woman’s hands in mine. The old lady tried to tighten her grip on me but she lacked the strength to do anything else besides looking me in the eyes as though she didn’t want me to leave.

And in that moment, my eyes stood riveted to the ground as I held her even tighter, fighting my tears in a fruitless attempt as an overwhelming sense of sorrow washed over me.

Even though I knew I could not relieve her of her pain, I did all that I could. Which was to be there for her.

Time managed properly on the people around you is spent wisely, but using your time to serve strangers, enables you to find a greater sense of satisfaction and joy than ever before.