A collection of self-help ideas, motivation, story rejects, poems, and bits of humor for the sad soul. These are random bits of satirical, sarcastic and upright stupid nonsense compiled into a creation that's meant to help average teenagers get out...
This chapter was written in collaboration with Anonymus and Maknae0519
Lately, I've been writing about a lot of very depressing things and while I think it's safe to say that learning how to deal with major problems and people is important, I also don't want to make anyone feel more dead inside than they already are. On that note, I've invited a couple of buddies of mine to write with me and share feedback and what-not and it's the first time I've done something like this so let's see if I'm total trash at it or not.
It's sorta ironic that this chapter is about service and doing good because the people helping me are literally doing that while helping me write. I think a lot of people overlook small sacrifices. Sure there are things like disaster cleanup, homeless shelters, fostering children and a bunch of other major services, but there are also small things that people take for granted. Something, like carrying a bag for someone or even holding a door, doesn't really require that much effort, but in a small, seemingly insignificant way it's helpful. You might not think you're a very helpful person. Heck, I'm probably as selfish as they come. But if you think about your day, there's bound to be something you've done that may have made a slight difference in someone else's day.
This is slightly more significant but I wanted to share it anyway. A long time ago, I wasn't really in a good place. I had been planning this big event with my friends for several months and was super excited, and had eventually gathered up the courage to ask my crush at the time to come. Now initially she said yes, but shortly afterward canceled and then just stopped responding to any messages altogether. So I was already emotional but was still kind of looking forward to going to this. Unfortunately, I ended up seriously sick and could barely even get out of bed so I obviously couldn't even go to this event at all. I say this all to lead to the fact that while I was sick in bed my friends spent basically their whole evening talking and interacting with me over the phone and eventually opened a video-call so I could get as close to being there as possible and that really meant a lot to me. To be honest I would have probably reacted a lot worse if they hadn't helped me the way they did.
-Anonymus
I know there are a lot of people who don't do any service activities because they're shy and don't want to interact with people. So it might be hard for you to immediately bend down to help someone when they drop something in the hallways or wait for someone in order to open the door for them, or working with kids, etc. That was me for a while, but what I learned is that you should still try to do those things, even if you're not the best at it because it makes you a better person. There are even ways to serve the community where you don't have to be directly talking with people. I've done lots of service projects through my church, which include painting a daycare building, pulling weeds, and other more labor inclined service works. But my favorite is the distribution center we run. People can come to grab food and clothes that they need but can't afford, and you can do a lot of behind the scenes work in places like that, which are often areas with need. But my favorite times of service are when I do interact with someone, and see the relief in their faces when they realize that someone is going to help them and that they're not alone in the world. It brings me joy when I realize that I've just helped someone in need. Not much can beat that feeling, let me tell you. Whether volunteering on a large scale project or helping someone in a minute way, you'll still leave feeling incredible. And everyone you help will, too.
-Maknae0519
Service is big and small, as you can see. A few days ago I was in a bible study group and we talked about service and how we should love our enemies. Being kind to someone doesn't necessarily mean you need to be their friend, but you can still ask how their day is and try to be respectful even if they aren't. A lot of times as humans we have the urge to get "payback" or "revenge".
When I went to elementary school they really impressed the golden rule. We even sang a song about it in music class. "Treat others how you want to be treated" essentially. Doesn't it put you down and upset you when someone bullies or disrespects you? So why would we treat others like that? Why do we make fun of people or push them around or take advantage of their kindness? Selfishness I guess.
In my home life we fight pretty often as siblings. That's normal in most families. But I don't really enjoy yelling. It doesn't make me feel happy. My little brother and I fight the most over stupid things. I keep trying to work on being kinder to him and one of the ways I've done that is offering to help with things he does or just go into his room every night and ask him about his day. I think we're improving. I don't know if I would consider that service so much as relationship improvement but I want to do it now before we grow even further apart. I'd like to have a healthy relationship with all of my siblings.
Back to service. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is really big on serving others. The callings in our church are volunteer. Even our bishops (pastors) are on a volunteer basis. We try our best to help people in any way we can. One of the biggest things I've done as part of my church is driving down to Houston to help with hurricane cleanup. We spent about three days down there with about 5,000 or so Mormons just cleaning up different houses. And no one complained. We actually had a lot of fun and I got to body slam through the drywall.
Sometimes I think that when people don't consider what they could do to help out, it's either because they have a lot going on in their minds, or they feel like they can't do anything useful. I've dealt with both sides before. It's easier to be selfish and it's easier to forget that there are people struggling all around you. It just takes maturity and self-awareness to understand that someone might be having a rough day; that you can do something to help.
Well, this picture is kind of unrelated. In fact, it's the opposite of what I'm going for in this chapter, but while scrolling through a header meme I found this and laughed about it for ten minutes. Enjoy.
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What to Take Away From This: Just be aware of when you can help out. Service feels good from both the giving and receiving end. And as a side note, it's okay to ask for help! Sometimes you need it!
Thank you for reading, stay healthy and happy 🤙 -Sam
