A well said quote that I have known of for about three minutes now “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” was once said by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi has inspired many people in this world including myself after finding this quote. This quote is one I have not known of, but one I feel I have lived by in the past year of my life. I’ve realized that the feeling if giving is greater than the feeling of getting will ever give me.
Growing up, I never really had much of a holiday season. We never really celebrated things like Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I mean there were presents but there was nothing other than that, no family trips, no family movie nights, or times spent together that I noticed a lot of other families doing. I didn't really get a good feeling whenever I received a present because It didn't really mean anything to me. Then one Christmas, a couple of years ago, I volunteered at a homeless shelter where we gave free meals to those in need. The feeling I got from seeing the smiles on those people’s faces was far greater than the feeling I got from receiving a new playstation. Ever since then I’ve always been excited to help others out, whether there was a reward to it or not. Many people at my old place of work saw me as a person that always helped others out, which was something I took pride in because I loved the feeling of unselfishness I had developed.
For my service project , I chose to give a gift to a person in Veterans Village named Harry. Never have I met the man and me not being the most creative person in the world, I bought him a gift card to Walmart so he could choose something he really needed. I wish I could have done more for him and maybe given him a few more gifts, but have recently lost my job and could not afford to do much more. I do hope however that this small gesture, receiving a gift from a stranger will at least bring a little smile to his face. People always say smiling is contagious which is something I strongly believe in. Hopefully whatever Harry decides to get, it will be something he really wanted and will make him happy, because if he is happy, chances are the people around him will be happy and spread the happiness and joy around because thats what the holidays are all about.
