Beech Tree News Network

Last week, the “thought for the day” in a meeting I attended was about developing the habit of helping others. I would like to be more helpful. Many times, my heart would be willing, but my brain isn’t tuned in.

One way of helping others is volunteer work. In a 2012 article, Philip Moeller discussed the benefits for the volunteer as reported by psychologist Mark Snyder and sociologist Jane Allyn Piliavin:
"On one hand, it's striking that volunteering even occurs," says Mark Snyder, a psychologist and head of the Center for the Study of the Individual and Society at the University of Minnesota….Yet 1 in 3 adults do meaningful volunteer work on a sustained basis, he notes, and the United States has one of the world's highest rates of volunteerism.
"People who volunteer tend to have higher self-esteem, psychological well-being, and happiness," Snyder says. "...It also improves their health and even their longevity."
Among teenagers, even at-risk children who volunteer reap big benefits, according to research findings studied by Jane Allyn Piliavin, a retired University of Wisconsin sociologist. She cites a positive effect on grades, self-concept, and attitudes toward education. Volunteering also led to reduced drug use and huge declines in dropout rates and teen pregnancies. Other research links youth volunteering to a higher quality of life as an adult… (http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2012/04/04/why-h...)
So, volunteering positively affects the volunteer, regardless of age.

People help one another in many ways. I asked friends and family how they have helped someone, or how someone has helped them (They were helping me by responding to my question!). Their responses are below:
•    I helped a friend rebuild the motor in his bike and offered advice on maintenance.
•    There are so many ways to help someone. Listening to a dear friend of mine talk about her problems would be the most recent way I have helped someone.
•    Many people have helped me – family and friends – with financial, emotional, and physical needs. And, although I want to help people, many times I can’t because of no money or family commitments. But, I can pray. So, many times the way I can best help someone is to pray for them. It seems like very little; but, I can do it from wherever I am, and they can benefit.
•    The most humbling and inspirational help I have ever received came during the times I was in the midst of near crippling grief. It was at these times when people from all walks of my life came to surround me with love and comfort. They were my oxygen when I couldn’t breathe. They were my lifeline when I felt hopeless. They wanted nothing in return. No praise, no recognition, no trophy. But, I will be forever grateful for their love and grace.
•    One girl didn’t have a ride to our off-campus clinical, so I picked her up and took her!
•    Simple things that are often free help out the most! My Nana will do my laundry for me if I’m busy or stressed out with school.
•    This Easter I was having a particularly sad day; sometimes, I just wish my life was like the Walton's.  We had been to church, came home and spent the day doing yard work – we all know work wards off loneliness, don't we? Anyway, I had to run something over to the neighbors across the street. We chatted a few moments, and as I left, she opened the door and impulsively invited us to eat dinner with them, stating it was very informal, but we were welcome to join them.  I decided to take her up on the invitation. We ate, visited briefly and had to leave to finish our yard project. I had no more than left their home when up the street walked another neighbor with a pan of homemade rolls, hot from the oven. His wife had sent him up with them. Small acts of kindness that meant more to me than either neighbor could ever know. I hope that there has been or may be someone whose spirit I have lifted or will lift as much as these people did mine.
•    When I was sick recently, ladies in my prayer group brought meals. One of the men in my church mowed the yard. What I most enjoyed doing to help others is taking food to shut-ins and visiting with them.
•    The way I try to help others is by sending cards weekly and taking a meal monthly to a couple in our church. I have always loved sending cards to people who are sick, grieving, or having a hard time, and taking the meals is through a program in our church.

Developing the habit of helping others requires having an open mind. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fish, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers." Acts 20:35 teaches that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." To assist others, we have to see the opportunities to help.