Volunteer

For a while now, I have told myself time to time to go help someone in need, or do something more productive. But every time, this "evil" voice says "you don't know for sure that it will help anyway, and even if it does it's no gain to you. Might as well do something that at least you gain something from right now" (or something like that; note- "evil" is a joke). But all of the above is actually false. In fact, by not volunteering I am contradicting my core values by living in the moment, allowing myself to be content with being unproductive in my free time. What am I gaining from TV, movies, or even anime? I make excuses like learning the Japanese language and culture, developing my understanding of storyline development, as well as lessons about life...(this is referring to anime, which is my primary method of wasting time) but when it comes down to it- essentially nothing outside the moment. This should be unacceptable- and yet I have allowed myself to become such a waste of a life all this time. I should be spending all my time doing something that actually affects the future- rather than emulating being frozen in time and foolishly expecting reality to play along...

And volunteer work has many benefits: For one thing, it's probably the easiest way there is to make friends, of which I am sadly in dire need. With these friends (and acquaintances) come contacts- which is a smart thing to have career-wise, and of which I also lack. Heck, I'll probably end up getting my girlfriend while volunteering. People naturally tend to be a lot more open towards those offering them assistance, albeit partly out of obligation. Some of the best parts of volunteering though, is that you're free to choose what to do, and there's never a shortage of opportunities. Enough high-grade volunteer work can look really impressive on a resume as well. In addition, there are many vital skills that are best learned volunteering. For example, I want to be a parent- but in order to be adequately prepared for whatever problems or difficulties that will arise, as well as gaining a good idea of what my child's educational, social, and personal needs- The best approach would be to volunteer for daycares, elementary schools, etc. Since I know my career does not lie in these areas, but am in need of these skills, volunteer is undoubtedly the best way to go about it.

Of course there is also great psychological benefits to volunteering as well. Generally people don't volunteer, because, like me, they were discouraged by the voiced demanding instant gratification. I realize now that this voice (the voice doesn't actually exists, I am merely using it as a representation of the "ego") was preventing me from progressing in life. To achieve success, I need to understand that the best things in life aren't free or immediate- because a great reward always comes with a cost. In this case though, much of the cost is simply the willingness to take the initiative and wisdom to take the future into account rather than merely living in the moment. We all have the highly productive quality of gaining pleasure from the opportunity to actively help others- and all we need is to grab those opportunities by the horns.