Why Volunteerism Is The Great Antidote
Always feeling pressured? Missing your kids’ activities? Running late? No time for the gym? Low on energy? Not enough hours in the day? Catching up on charting in your free time? Here’s a paradoxical idea. Hit the pause button and look into ways to give away more of your time.
Life, the great one act play that permits no dress rehearsal, is short. While being a doctor conditions all of us to life at warp speed, in reality, there are very few emergencies and most of what seems so urgent can be deferred at least temporarily, if not completely. To do what? Spend the only currency that matters and we can never get back, our time, in ways that move us.
Volunteering our time to others can be a wellspring of renewed energy and enthusiasm. There is a caveat: Undertake only those endeavors that absolutely move us, undertakings that give us that visceral sense of true gratification rather than simple ephemeral pleasure.
Giving of our time to fellow human beings lifts us mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Deepening human connections through service first reveals and then deepens our own unique sense of vitality. When we share that vitality through service, it is astounding how vital we feel in return. The time involved doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The key is to fit it into already very busy lives. Large numbers of retired people volunteer regularly and frequently. They know the benefits of peace of mind and senses of accomplishment, of being part of something bigger than themselves. But we really should not defer our own vitality boost to some later date, should we?
Horace Mann, the 19th-century American education reformer, concluded his commencement address to the 1859 graduating class of Antioch College by exclaiming, “I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts my parting words: … Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” I find that incredibly inspiring. Modern day healthcare demands a lot. It is easy to feel overwhelmed among the responsibilities and pending demands. Quite frankly, it is difficult to remember those initial sparks of interest as undergraduates that launched us on our chosen careers. Yet our profession is the service of humanity.
The time involved in volunteering doesn’t have to be overwhelming and simply another stressor. It could range from spending a few hours serving meals at Thanksgiving in a community shelter, teaching an illiterate adult to read or spending a week on a medical mission to another country. Alternately, it could take the form of contributing time to civic or professional activities one is particularly passionate about and accepting leadership positions. One might even simply choose to be a source of positive energy, staying consciously aware and mindful of the lives around us, rather than fostering negativity and reactivity.
A great place to start is reconnecting with interests and passions prior to starting medical practice that have fallen by the wayside. By reminding ourselves of who and what we were before who and what we have become is a recalibration that can launch renewed enthusiasm and insight to our ongoing daily tasks and obligations.
The beauty is they can all be specific to us. So we should express our passions, use our voices and actions, and keep the faith. We should consider today, each day, our sense of self, what our individual legacy might be and what our approach to life, family and friends and our wonderful profession will be.
By reconnecting with what truly moves us personally and pursuing it, we grow. Then as we share these pursuits that come from our hearts through volunteerism and service to others — in both the personal and professional facets of life — our own quality of life is enhanced.
It is in the giving that we always seem to feel that we have received the most.
Dr. Cicchinelli is a Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, and is a faculty member of the Podiatry Institute. He is in private practice and is a surgeon coach in Vigo, Spain.
Editor’s note: For a related article, see “Mission Trips: How DPMs Are Making An Impact Worldwide” in the October 2004 issue of Podiatry Today. For other related articles, visit the archives at www.podiatrytoday.com .
