When we first started on this journey to authenticity, I gave the definition of it being when your belief, thoughts, words, and actions are aligned. One of the best ways to put our beliefs in action is through volunteering. As a child I had it in my head I wanted to be a nurse. When I was born I was a preemie. Born in at 2 pounds and 5 ounces came into the world breech and not breathing. I am here because in this particular Army hospital they had lost four babies before me that week. The nurse who helped bring me into the world was determined not to loose me. She gave me mouth to mouth for 2 1/2 hours before I started breathing on my own. I thought for sure nursing was my calling. As it turned out not so much. However as a teen I volunteered as a candy stripper for five years. There is very little I do not know about the general workings of a hospital. My belief was I was to be a nurse. I put that into action by working as a volunteer in a hospital for years.
What is it you believe? What kind of volunteering can you do to bring this belief into action? I will venture to say there are volunteer opportunities for every interest under the sun. One of the greatest resources for volunteering is a site called Volunteer Match. This site matches up volunteers with non-profit organizations who need help. They have a variety of volunteer areas and an almost exhaustive number of organizations. Volunteering can help you to begin to put your beliefs into action. It is a simple way to begin to express your authenticity in a concrete manner.
Exercises
- Pick two areas you think you might want to express you authenticity through volunteering. Then go to Volunteer Match and find two agencies which fit your ideas.
- Get the information about the agencies from the site and then look up their sites.
- Decide which you want to work with, if you can not make up your mind plan a visit to both.
- Check out what kinds of training they have for their volunteers and plan to attend a traiing.
Journal
Take some time to write about putting your beliefs into action. What could that look like for you? How can you make this an active reality in your everyday world. What can you do to bring your children along with you? How can you teach them to make the choice to put actions to their beliefs?
Believe in Parenting
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ReplyDeleteThis is such a great article Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI always love the concept of volunteering. And I personally feel when we go ahead from the perspective of helping abd giving through the skills we have that also falls in the same category.
The Sabita, I agree wholeheartedly and I think it's a big part of being true to ourselves and giving time into the areas we feel the most passionate about.
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