When I was in college, every day had a full agenda: go to class, volunteer at elementary school, meet friends for lunch, and attend meetings. It seems as though my purpose was to smush as much socializing, school work, and preparing for the future as possible into my first few years of freedom. By my fourth year, I was a little tired of all the planning and developed the mantra "fun is my agenda." In true college style, I even made a t-shirt with those words.
During a recent move, I came across that t-shirt along with some pictures from college. It made me wonder what mantra I'd come up with now if I started over. At this point in life, I spend a lot of my free time volunteering. I certainly have a lot of fun, but it leaves me wondering what exactly is my purpose? Do I volunteer just to make a difference? Or do I volunteer for recognition, free t-shirts, to meet people, and/or to increase my skill set? Perhaps it's all of the above, but do I need an overriding purpose or to measure the difference I am making?
Ultimately, as an organization, CVN aspires to bring together like-minded individuals to make a difference in the community. While we may not volunteer for the same reasons and we may not help out in the same areas, we can be proud that our combined efforts really do make a huge impact on the community.
And, all things considered, I think that having fun is a solid agenda and that making a difference is a pretty worthy purpose in itself. As for the specifics, we can worry about those later.
How about you? Do you have a greater purpose in volunteering? How do you measure what you’ve accomplished? I’d love to hear from my fellow volunteers!
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