Volunteer Work Will Set You Free

Bird-watching was the only nontraditional hobby I had in high school. Don't laugh. Reading self-help books replaced that hobby during my senior year. Be nice. While I may have only read two self-help books at that time, they were both by Dale Carnegie. Carnegie mentioned in his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, that a great way to overcome psychological suffering caused by depression is to volunteer.

This tip worked for me personally as a high school senior in 1996 when I created a bad scenario inside my head due to what I call, "negative creativity." I foolishly chose the wrong path which led me to thinking the wrong way. I ultimately chose to feel awful about the unknown outcome of what I thought was a bad choice, and coped with my stressor by painting a small bedroom in my Mom's house.

While it wasn't even volunteer work because it was (1) part of my job as a good son and (2) a specific request made by my Mom, the productivity and creativity that I experienced helped me change what was going on inside my head. I suppose there wasn't much creativity, though, given that I used just one color of paint. Throughout this project, I forgot my previous preoccupation with unreasonable fear and doubt.

There are so many ways in which a person may volunteer these days. Leadership works for me. Since 2005, I've been volunteering as president of the University of Maryland Alumni Club of San Diego. Earlier this year, I began volunteering as the founding president of my high school's unofficial alumni association. While I've experienced pride and joy connecting fellow alumni across the county and country, respectively, my efforts have not been self-serving (even though it often feels that way).

Me volunteer? A self-employed, sole proprietor, whose own web site domain name is jaredmeyer.com has the ability to think beyond his own well-being, own career, and own personal agenda? Sure thing.

Consider volunteerism a hobby. Like birdwatching, but with less redundancy, more satisfaction, and less people laughing at you. Anyone who laughs at you for having a nontraditional hobby clearly hasn't read Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. And for those of you who are just a tad curious about the lad who bird watched as a teenager, let's just say he always got the chicks.