What Volunteering Accomplishes

I spent some time this past weekend volunteering for Earth Day.

After sacrificing the warmth of indoors for baby tree recovery, one tends to feel pretty good about having volunteered. There is one caveat to the whole volunteering process that I feel like isn't mentioned a whole lot, and that's inflation.

I'm not talking about the kind of inflation that lowers the value of a dollar, but rather the kind that causes egos to rise (self-inflation).

When I hear of people who've volunteered, I tend to see that directly linked to a dusting-off of hands and the allowance of a whole year to pass by before the next session of volunteerism. We seem to think that once is enough and volunteering is only for special occasions. Some say that there is no time to complete much more than a once-yearly deal. Well here's a reality check: We make time for what we want. What is it that you want? If there's truly a change that you want to see in the world, you must take that initiative.

On another note, it's important to reflect upon service as well. Because without that reflection, there is no way to gauge the effect you've had on the community nor the impact that can be had.

Hope to see you all out on the field.