How Can I Help? Stepping Into Service and Discovering Joy

"Teach the young about service as they will then live a life of caring." This is the wonderful advice we heard at a volunteers meeting. We also heard the importance of following our passion: that whatever area of life turns us on, that is where we should put our time and energy as we will not only be more engaged, but will also reap great joy.

We recently met the three creators of MokuZoku.com, who have designed a children's computer game where the kids earn points by doing activities outside. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that we have to bribe kids to get off the computer and out into nature, but it works. Service is similar. We have to lure ourselves away from our usual pastimes with the bribe that when we share and care by giving to others we actually feel much better in ourselves.

There is no end to needs, which can make us feel quite overwhelmed. How do we start? What difference could we possibly make? We may feel we have little to offer, but whether it is a few pennies or a whole bankroll, a helping hand across the street or a ride to the store is irrelevant -- it is the act of caring itself that is important. We can make a difference -- each one of us that reaches out to another brings an extra smile into the world. As Gandhi said, "Almost anything we do will seem insignificant, but it is very important that we do it."

Deb has worked with the elderly; we have both been volunteers with hospice. Just a few evenings ago we were at a meeting with other volunteers to find out more about RSVP: the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. They do wonderful work like taking the infirm to doctor's visits, fixing things that get broken around the home (even changing light bulbs for those who are unable), shopping for groceries, and providing the most important of all: companionship.

Eight teenagers came to the house of our friend Maggie, who was in need of help, and spent six hours weeding, mowing and pruning her yard. She told us that they all had a fun time, working and laughing together. Other areas of volunteering include: rehabilitating ex-prisoners; cleaning and maintaining parks, paths, and wildlife habitats; cooking for and serving the homeless; providing respite for single parents or caregivers; or taking a lonely friend out for dinner. These are all ways we can give. But they are also all ways we can gain so much.

Service takes us beyond ourselves. Through giving and sharing, we soon learn that when we give we do not lose anything; we do not have any less. Rather, we gain so much. As the slogan on a friend's tee shirt says: "Giving is the new getting."

Or, as one of our teachers, Sri Swami Satchidananda taught: "Who is the most selfish person? It is the one who is most selfless! Why? Because by being selfless, you will always retain your happiness. A selfish person can never be happy. So, to be happier, be more selfless! Look at the apple tree: It gives thousands of fruits. What's more, if you throw a stone at an apple tree, it offers even more fruit. Throw a stone at a person and you know what you will get!"

I slept and dreamt that life was joy
I awoke and saw that life was service
I acted and behold, service was joy.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Do you have stories of serving and sharing? Leave a comment below. You can receive notice of our blogs every Thursday by checking Become a Fan at the top.

Ed and Deb Shapiro's new book, BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors such as Marianne Williamson, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Michael Beckwith, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jane Fonda, Jack Kornfield, Byron Katie, Gangaji, Ellen Burstyn, Ed Begley, Dean Ornish, Russell Bishop, and others, will be published November 3rd 2009 by Sterling Ethos.

Deb is the author of the award-winning book YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND. Ed and Deb are the authors of over 15 books, and lead meditation retreats and workshops. They are corporate consultants, and the creators of Chillout daily inspirational text messages on Sprint cell phones. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

Follow Ed and Deb Shapiro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/raniraji

Comments

[RoadCrossingChicken]

Teach the young about service as they will then live a life of caring."

These words are true! When My son was 8, he and I watched a program about Romanian orphans. The program just broke our hearts. We had a long talk and he said he wanted to do something for kids who had no one to love them. After the show and we chose some charities to work with together and it planted a seed in him that was amazing.
Since he has been an adult he has had the opportunity to work with several childrens charities here in the US and abroad. He has been able to go to Poland, Romania, Costa Rica, Kenya, Sri Lanka and other places.
He has mainly worked in Kenya. He and his wife just got back from another trip to Kenya. They were able to purchase goats and chickens for some children's schools.
I have not had the opportunity to do what he has done, but I have been able to make it easier for him to go. And, we have had some great friends from Kenya in our home because of his contacts.

One thing I know for sure, you cannot out love the people of Kenya. They are so sweet and full of life! We never cease to be humbled by their gratitude and how much they give back.

[cgohmann]

Hello Ed & Ded -
Yes, service does take us beyond ourselves...
Today, my partner and I are visiting two elderly friends. How their eyes light up each time we meet - and how ours do the same! We are blessed to have them in our lives, and for the opportunity to share time with them.
I wanted to pass along this Rabindranath Tagore quote, one of my favorites:
When death comes and whispers to me
‘Thy days are ended,’
let me say to him, ‘I have lived in love
and not in mere time.’
He will ask: ‘Will thy songs remain?’
I shall say ‘I know not, but this I know
that often when I sang I found my eternity’.
With love,
Charles in Costa Rica

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey my new amigo egohmann- Thanks for your wonderful comment and

appreciate your sharing ... your Rabindranath Tagore quote ...

I look forward to being involved with your great project in Costa Rica ..it will be a great Oasis

Big Love,

Ed

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Our names are Ed & Deb

enjoy you life in Costa Rica.. we were there years ago and loved it....amazing birds and nature

glorious place to swim and travel about...

[RadicalRepublican]

Hi Ed and Deb,

I was surprised to see an article so soon from you. And you did it on Saturday no less. I think the fact that you took the time to write a second article so close on the heels of Thursday's ideally illustrates just what you wrote about. I'm involved and I spend time volunteering. But sometimes it becomes a little abstract. Working for a cause is good and necessary but I don't get the same sense from organizational volunterrism as I do when I can do something for a single person, one on one. There's a little irony to it. The work that takes many hours doesn't make me feel the same sense of contentment as a small gesture for an individual that takes so much less time.

Respectfully,
RR

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi RR- we were asked by HuffPost if we would write a blog on service for Saturday so we were more than happy to do this blog.

The greatest joy is to serve! It helps others and ultimate helps ourselves.

It's so good to hear from you and thanks for noticing.

Our blog on Thursday June 25th is my/our favorite. Do let me know what you think?

Big Love,

Ed

[JacquiDB]

There is another important point to be considered. As an Aboriginal activists group put it: so clearly: "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

JacquiDB .. It is a joy to receive your beautiful comments

This is spot on --I will repeat it:

As an Aboriginal activists group put it: so clearly: "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

LOL,

Ed

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

Hello Ed and Deb

Maybe it's just me, but I get a little embareassed when someone thanks me so profusely and tell me that I don't know how much my help means to them. It's kind of awkward. On one hand, I feel that my efforts are well worth it. On the other, the intense light of appreciation highlights just how much darkness there is around. Thank you guys for posting on a subject that needs to be expressed broadly. If more poeple understood the needs and also the sense of community you get from volunteering, there'd be a lot more lights and a lot less darkness.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi CMF- ALWAYS - Great to connect with you

That is understandable. sometimes a smile from a stranger or a wave in a car make me feel great because it is unexpected.

What we feel is ordinary another experiences it as extraordinary because you are thinking and doing for them and it is special ..

As for darkness look how much suffering there is.... but let's do our best.. the Light removes the darkness.

Joy be with you,

Ed

[MerhabaAbi]

Hi Ed and Deb,

I've been organizing a monthly card game at the local Veterans Home for a few years now. As you said, I get such a sense of well-being when I know that some small effort on my part made someone else's day better. It's pretty easy to do what I do. I e-mail an invitation to join me for card playing and visiting with Vets and tell them what time I'm going to be there. Every month 5 to 10 people make it. A few months ago I came away from a card day felling really upset. One of the regular vets had a sudden decline in acuity and rather then bantering with me like always, he had to ask me if I knew the guy who brings people out to play cards.

Wilh love
Little Brother

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

MerabaAbi _ ALWAYS glad to hear from you

Your card game sounds great.. I love to play cards....

Your intention is spot on.

Big Love,

Ed

[2morrowKnight]

Oops...I just saw your Twitter link...forget my previous question...

[2morrowKnight]

Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro. Another great post! I love it!

Are you guys on Twitter?

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

2morrowKnight ...Great name

Thanks for your comment ...we tweet

Ed

[Jason Mannino - Huffpost Blogger]

It really is as simple as reaching out a hand to another to help when needed, literally, maybe someone walking with a cane needs help carrying groceries, or someone wheeling someone with a wheelchair needs help holding a door open. It doesn't have to complex! Thanks for pointing that out!

Light ahead!
Jason

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Jason- Thansk fro you heartfelt comment... it is so true . let us all do our best..

Light ahead,

Ed

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Fantastic!
Your commitement to Service is amazing- even to post an extra column this week is fantastic!
I guess we were all on the same wavelength this week in sharing stories of how good it feels to lend a hand to another. The simple is often the most meaningful.

Thank YOU!
Kari

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi gorgeous Kari - we were asked to do write a blog on service the same day we were at a meeting about service...amazing..

We are part of a great HuffPost community..and what Arianna and the creator of Craig's list is doing is just soooo great

Big Love,

Ed

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

So very true. 'giving is the new getting'.

It most certainly behooves the Wall Streeters to remind themselves of the good old indian tradition of the potlatch.

Let's hope they have a lot of fun in this new (or old?) - highly competitive - game :-)

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi DiogenesOfAlaska or DOA-- if I may-- It's always great to hear from you

Well sometimes those that have .. don't listen..don't get it and are too busy

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Beautiful post, Ed and Deb.

I think it is true to say that we are born to serve. We come into the world each with a unique set of gifts and talents. There are always people and situations that call upon us to give of our gifts. It is a natural match.

In the process of our giving and serving, we come to realize the greatest about ourselves. In a sense, service is truly enlightened self interest.

We write here for the love of doing so! How blessed are we.

Best love to you,
Anne

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Wonderful Anne.. This a most caring and touching comment...

I will repeat it

"I think it is true to say that we are born to serve. We come into the world each with a unique set of gifts and talents. There are always people and situations that call upon us to give of our gifts. It is a natural match.
In the process of our giving and serving, we come to realize the greatest about ourselves. In a sense, service is truly enlightened self interest.

We write here for the love of doing so! How blessed are we."

couldn't say this better,

Big Love,

Ed

[RoadCrossingChicken]

"...we are born to serve."

Perhaps the thing that most proves the truth of that phrase is the fact that serving can bring personal joy that few other things can match. Connecting with a human that needs and accepts what you have to offer through your talents very much gives a purpose to our existance. Every one wants to know they matter.

There are so many ways that we can serve and give. My personal outreach is making and donating quilts to a local rape clinic. The folks at the cliniic tell me that there is something special about a quilt to a rape victim... it is perhaps the fact that other women have so inimately worked with the fabric in cutting it and piecing it back together in a pretty design... on a psychological level it almost feels like they are being hugged by the women who have made the quilt. It is a sort of comfortable "barrier" for them to wrap themselves in. I cannot tell you what it has meant to me to be able to do something for those women! It is so humbling that something I can do can bring comefort to a stranger in a time when she needs it the most.

What is YOUR talent? I'll just be there is someone who is needing what you can give right NOW.

Hugs!

[dianaspencer]

This is probably one of my most favorite quotes by Swami Satchidananda! He always gave the example that all of nature has one quality: the quality of selfless service. Everything in nature gives without expecting anything. The one exception: human beings! And yet, we are part of nature. Swamiji taught that giving is part of our intrinsic nature; the spirit of selfless service is the secret place in which the divine has hidden our joy! When anyone was ever down or depressed and would ask for advice, he would advise: "Do something for someone else, you will feel better immediately." Even if each day we did just one thing without expectation, purely selflessly, our lives & our world would be transformed. Thank you for sharing this wisdom!

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

dianaspencer This also is my favorite from Sri Swami Satchidananda -

He was the most humorous and luminous person I ever met. I traveled across India with him and it was glorious.

There are so many wonderful stories but to have been with him as you, Peter Max, Carole King, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd and Deb and I have is for me the greatest of all blessings.

Ommmmmm

Ed

[lorla]

Are you the same couple I read about in the Detroit papers a couple of days ago? If you are, I admire your buy black campaign. In Detroit, I would like to start a directory initiative of all business in Detroit that are not just Black owned, but any whose business is in the city, and whose owners LIVE in the city.
I would like to circulate the directory widely, to encourage economic growth in our poverty stricken city.
We CAN help ourselves if we dedicate ourselves to supporting one another.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

lorla ..Love your name ..we are not that couple but I would love to know more about them...

You sound great... I would like to repeat your comment

Are you the same couple I read about in the Detroit papers a couple of days ago? If you are, I admire your buy black campaign. In Detroit, I would like to start a directory initiative of all business in Detroit that are not just Black owned, but any whose business is in the city, and whose owners LIVE in the city.
I would like to circulate the directory widely, to encourage economic growth in our poverty stricken city.
We CAN help ourselves if we dedicate ourselves to supporting one another.

Bg Love,

Ed

[waitforme]

This morning I heard an interview on NPR (Morning Edition) with a young man (age 25) who is starting a new business in Detroit which would use points to exchange for services or goods, thus keeping monies in Detroit and becoming their own 'stimulus'. You may be able to find him on NPR.org and maybe even hook up with him in business, who knows?

[B-FLY]

Ed & Deb,
Your compassion and loving kindness are inspirational thank you for sharing this story.
shine bright
B-FLY
http://www.mokuzoku.com/twitter/?twitter=bflyflutter

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Scott, Josh and Jesse- 3 super dudes do wonderful service in the world...I am so happy to meet you men...it is brilliant what you are doing

http://www.mokuzoku.com/twitter/?twitter=bflyflutter

I reccommen people should check thus out it ROCKS

Cheers,

Ed