a volunteer doesnt have 2 b positive if we're talking definition, its just some1 who offers their services without requesting anything in return
and this work shouldnt b done for attention or appreciation, it should be cause u want to actually better something (mostly cus ur interested in it and want to see change)
a moderator quitting his job because he feels he hasnt been appreciated is likely not a good moderator because instead of adjusting his actions to please as many as he can he just quits
volunteer work for years to help starving children in africa is probably because you feel sorry for them and want to better their circumstances
volunteer work for one week to help starving children in africa and then quitting is probably cause you wanted attention/appreciation
I know people who have went to africa to volunteer, and i know people that volunteer at the church. What people don't seem to understand is that everyone have their personal reason for doing what they do.
Person
#37 went to africa because he wanted to help people, trying to make their life better and put a smile on their lips. By doing this he feels better about himself, he feels that he has done something for the world to make a better place. By making the world a better place, it's something he can enjoy himself, his children and grand children can enjoy it and it also makes people happier and in return that makes people around him happier and that makes him happier. People appriciate his help, they smile at him and not only does he help them, but they also help him by returning the happiness. Benig happy is contagious, if one person is happy then people around him wil also be happier.
1.)This person has helped hundreds of people, and he has done so for 4 years. He has helpt rebuild towns, and made roads for people to walk on. He has done more for this world than most people have, and does his work get less recognized or praised by the fact that he also had a gain from doing it?
2.) This person ends up coming to a place where he gets spat upon, he gets verbally abused and he gets pushed away by the people. He tries to his best abilities to help, but after three hard months here he starts noticing that it is also affecting him, in a bad way. Nothing is getting done, they won't let him help them, and he's gettin sad and slightly depressed by this. In the end he leaves the town, does this make him a bad volunteer?
Where i'm trying to get with this, is that we all have a reason for doing what we do. We might not know it, but it is there. If we didn't get something out of doing something, we wouldn't do it, it's that simple. Somewhere in our sub concious it pleases us to do certain things, and it boosts our morale and happiness along with others. Help someone else, help you.
Every single person that volunteers, does so for a reason. And once that reason isn't there anymore, or it's turning into something negative, they will eventaully stop or burn themself out. This does not make their work less valuable than someone elses.
Sorry for the long post. This is a conversation i have quite a bit with my students. And i have grown up in a family with many priests, and trust me when i say that no one is a saint. We all have our own personal reasons for doing what we do.