Time, desire, skills, energy, resources, sometimes money -- it may take all of these for volunteering. But the one thing that is needed the most is - the commitment.
It takes commitment to put aside things you like and spend that time and energy on doing something for others. You can be relaxing at the weekend or having a barbecue in your backyard or spending time with your kids. But it takes your commitment to do volunteering for the cause you believe in. It takes commitment to spend your weekend (or a few hours of weekend or weekdays) - not for yourself and your family but for others.
I have been volunteering for different causes for many years now. I have observed it has helped me a lot in improving different aspects of my life and personality as well. But if you ask me what's one thing which volunteering helped me achieve - I will say commitment.
Volunteering has strengthened my commitment - about taking up new tasks/initiatives and finishing them. Volunteering has taught me that once you decide to volunteer or promise someone to be there for volunteering, then it becomes your commitment. No matter what happens, you have to show your commitment towards the cause and fulfill the promise(s) you made to yourself or to others.
The more I volunteer, the more it encourages me to volunteer.
Disclaimer
This blog was first published by me on my LinkedIn blog
here.