"What do you want to do that for?" - Volunteering.

This summer, the Olympics and Paralympics are coming to the UK and London.


I wonder what reaction that sentence has triggered in the readers?  I imagine a range of feelings, from deep groaning and moaning to excited anticipation.


Well readers, your blog writer is excited. So excited, that I've got involved in the organisation of the Games. I will be one of the over 70,000 volunteers, called Games Makers.


I mentioned it in the first blog of the year: http://emotionalgrowth.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-tell-me-what-to-do-resolutions.html


Perhaps you are thinking that I must love sport? Well, no, I don't really. Neither am I a huge follower and certainly not a willing participant. Never have been.  I learnt badminton once and was quite enjoying it, until one of the group, one of the more competitive types, tried to attack me with each shot. I couldn't be bothered, so gave up. 


Yesterday morning at 8am, in freezing temperatures and snow forecast, I stood outside Wembley Park Underground Station at the top of some steps, looking towards Wembley Stadium. (The premier sporting stadium in the UK). All I could see were hundreds of people, all wrapped up against the cold and heading for the indoor Wembley Arena next door. 


A warm feeling enveloped me and tears welled into my eyes.  Why? Not sure really, except it was something to do with a mass of humanity willing to give up their time and money to be part of something very big. Very big indeed. No personal glory, no personal gain, just a willingness to take part and help for the greater good.


I walked down the steps and it was as if I was stepping off into a great new adventure. It felt thrilling.


Why I feel drawn to be an Olympic volunteer is a story for another blog. But one incident last year is the basis of this blog.


I had the Games Maker interview in Newcastle, last May. I travelled there by train. I regularly travel by train. Sometimes the journeys are in silence, sometimes conversations with fellow travellers can occur. On the return journey a woman started to talk to me about her family and a middle-aged business man at the same table joined in.  The fact that the purpose of my trip had been to attend an interview to be a volunteer at the Olympics was mentioned.


The man asked if I was being paid. I told him that I was volunteering and while there would be a free uniform and free meals and travel available during the shifts, the position was self-funded. He was incredulous. He couldn't believe that anyone would want to work for nothing, let alone over 70,000 of us. I was incredulous that he thought all work should be paid, but said very little.


Attitudes to earning money are fascinating and all tied up with self-worth too. Status or perceived status is a powerful need. The man felt his time was worth something and that he wasn't going to give it away for free. I felt that he was missing out, maybe not now, but perhaps he would later, if he didn't have a change of heart.  


I have come across many people, who once retired, made redundant or just unwaged, have difficulty engaging in a world without paid work. While there are hundreds of thousands of people (thank goodness) happy to give of their time for nothing in return, other than satisfaction of helping somebody, perhaps less fortunate than themselves.


In many instances, it's the people unwilling to get involved in volunteering, who then have a problem with isolation and maybe, by not using their own unique skills, allow that part of the brain to shut-down through lack of use. Sometimes, it's a great opportunity to learn new skills and stretch oneself.


There are endless stories of people who take part in voluntary or unpaid work, where one door has lead to another. Or rather I use the metaphor of stepping stones. If a person wants to get from A to B, it might not be possible to take a direct route, but have to take smaller, shorter steps to get there or even end up somewhere else entirely and far richer for the experience. Riches are not always measured in material gain.


I wish students or young graduates especially, would realise that by taking a job considered menial, does not mean that they will stay doing that for the next forty years.  The 'that's beneath me' attitude' is a particular bug-bear of mine. Perhaps because I've been a cleaner and shelf-filler in my time and who knows, maybe again. 


A favourite quote by an unknown author is: 'He who knows his destination and heads directly to it will get there quickly. He who knows his destination but takes the odd wrong turn along the way, will still get there, and be wiser for the experience.'


I'm sure most of us have taken many wrong turnings along the way. Closing ones mind to volunteering can close the way to new opportunities, new friendships and new wisdom.


Personally, I can't wait.


©RitaLeaman2012