S is for Service by Conlee Ricketts #atozchallenge

is for Service

A 24 hour period to be of service to anything and anyone in need is where today will take us.  Look around to see where it is you can lend a hand.  It’s true that helping others is really helping ourselves.  Whether or not I get acknowledged for providing a little extra help has become completely unnecessary.  I admit I used to want a little bit of praise for how wonderful I was to do this or that for you, but the more help I gave the less I wanted any attention.  I grew out of it I guess you could say.

It is easier than you may think to find little ways to be of service.  Picking up bits of paper as you walk the halls at work, throwing away the trash on the sidewalk you find as you make it from point A to point B.  Opening a door for someone, sweeping the sidewalk, mowing the side yard shared with a neighbor, or letting some frazzled looking person ahead of you in line.

Simple things that might impact someone else’s day are acts of service.  Exploring the extra things that need help getting finished around you might lead to exploring the larger things around you where you can lend a hand.  Finding the time within your life to take part in larger service projects like neighborhood clean up, food banks, or animal shelters can seem overwhelming because of how busy your life feels.  Finding that elusive time starts with finding the small bits of time within your current day that you can fit in some extra help.  Start small perhaps by picking up a few extra things at the store when you’re shopping and dropping them into an extra box that you keep in your pantry, closet, or under a desk and when it gets full move it to the trunk of your car and when your trunk gets full of boxes drop them all at a shelter or food bank.  Maybe look around your house and find a few belongings that sit and stare at you unused and longing to be useful to someone else.

You never have to leap into the deep end first thing if you don’t want to.  Being of service to others becomes a habit if you start small and introduce the mindset to yourself with the little things.  Remember that just because it’s a small act of service doesn’t mean it isn’t filling a giant need for someone else.

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