Say yes to the unknown---take a leap of faith

Throughout my life there has been many things that I have allowed to hold me back from getting involved in service. Recently, though, I have been able to overcome those barriers and decided to take a chance to be involved in something bigger than myself. After starting college I became more aware of others needs and realized how selfish I had been in the past. My most often excuses for not getting involved in service would be, time and fear of the unknown, but I'm sure this is the case with most people. I wanted to concentrate on school and my career so that I could become successful and I didn't want to let anything else get in the way of that. I didn't think I could fit in any time for service with my job, social life, school, family, friends, and church taking up the majority of my life. With a little encouragement from friends and teachers I decided to take that first step and say yes to the unknown. I didn't know if I would be able to handle all that I was taking on or even if I had any skills to contribute to service, but I was taking a leap of faith and hoping I wouldn't regret this decision. I found that I've really enjoyed being involved in community service. I feel that I have been so blessed in my life and I want to do what I can to help others have that feeling too. Service really helps me put into perspective and see all the different ways that God has blessed me and it makes me want to do what I can to give back.

Through service I have become more aware of skills I have and feel like these skills are important and can be helpful. I tend to be very organized and a bit of a perfectionist, but I never really saw these as good qualities to have until I became involved in service. It has helped me to get things in order and be in control of situations, instead of feeling helpless and unprepared. I also think I generally have pretty good people skills, I always try to find ways to relate to people and their situations and really listen to what they have to say.

I think what is really great about service is that you can always find something to get involved in to utilize the specific skills that are unique to you. It is a good feeling to know that what you do matters and that you really are making a difference no matter how big or small it is.