Acts of Service
Since Hurricane Dorian passed on Wednesday, there's been a flurry of activity here in South Florida. It's astonishing how quickly local agencies, businesses, charities and citizens have organized to get aid to our neighbors in the Bahamas.
My dad is helicopter pilot and has been donating his time to fly supplies directly to the Bahamas
Virgo is service-oriented sign and so I thought it fitting that we go with the flow of the Universe and discuss volunteering this week.
So often there's a misconception of self-care - many interpret it to mean "treat yo self," when really the goal of self-care is to create a life you don't regularly need to escape from.
According to Positive Psychology, there are three kinds of happiness:
1) Pleasure and gratification
2) Embodiment of strengths and virtues
3) Meaning and purpose
Even though volunteering helps others, it's actually a beautiful form of self-care which touches on all 3 pillars of happiness. Multiple studies have proven the importance of community involvement and its ability to increase happiness, combat depression and provide a sense of purpose to one's life.
Getting supplies to the Bahamian people
Volunteering can quickly help shift perspective and break us out of the small world of our minds where problems have the freedom to roll around snowballing into what can become a self-made state of anxiety. Being of service allows us to help improve the lives of others while providing meaning, purpose and perspective in our own lives.
Regular volunteering can be a pretty significant time commitment but small acts of kindness really add up. Maybe your form of being of service is volunteering your time to a favorite charity or cause, maybe it's assisting in a soup kitchen or shelter once a month or once a year, coaching your niece's soccer team or watching your friend's kids so that she can have a free afternoon.
When we give of our time, talents and resources - we are not only enriching the lives of others but ours as well.
Do you volunteer? How did you decide what organization to work with?
Leave a comment
Also in Self-Care Sunday Blog Posts
New Year Sweetness
- Gather your supplies. You'll need a large bowl filled halfway with water and 4-12 de-stemmed blooms of your favorite flower(s). Notes: Roses are said to have the highest vibration of any flower.
- Find a comfortable seat on the ground on a yoga mat or cushion - either inside or outside. You may want to place a rolled blanket underneath your sits bones to help support you and keep your pelvic bowl and spine in alignment. Arrange your supplies as desired around your space with the bowl of water directly in front of you.
The Energetics of Chasing
Whether it’s love, good health, a solid relationship, serenity, freedom, a title, respect, or a certain number in the bank or on the scale - anything you chase will always be outside of you.
Apart from you.
A Perpetual Separation.
The energy of chasing by nature keeps you in pursuit and the desired "thing" running away from you. This creates more resistance & frustration and actually widens the gap between you and what you want.
Andrea Pacini
Author