In my 20s and early 30s my life revolved around raising
kids, working full time, and keeping my household running as smoothly as
possible. As the kids grew and became social and active, it was all I could do
to keep up with them while handling the endless other chores and
responsibilities that come with being a working mom. Now, in my 40s, I’m in a
different stage of life. My responsibilities have changed a bit, and I have
matured emotionally, socially and professionally. That doesn’t necessarily mean
I have more time available, but the life-stage change has allowed me to shift
some priorities.
You’ve heard the phrase, “It takes a village…” That phrase
is usually used in reference to raising a child. It comes to mind for me,
though, when I think about my community in general. Our city is our community,
as is our school, our church, our neighborhood, and even our work-place. We
each have places and roles in our communities. We thrive in our communities. We
have much because of our communities. In return, we each have a responsibility
to contribute to those communities.
I didn’t think of it like that during those years when I was
raising young children. I was overwhelmed with just keeping my own family and
life afloat; I didn’t feel like I had room in my life to get involved with
helping others. After all, along with
working, I spent time each week in my kids’ classrooms helping teachers handle
the variety of learning and behavior levels, until my kids got old enough to not
want me there anymore. Then I joined the PTO so I could stay involved and help
out behind the scenes. As the kids grew and became more active in sports and
extra-curricular 
Come to think of it now, volunteering in the community is
exactly what I was doing. Even though in my mind, it was selfish – I wanted
to stay close to my kids for as long as possible – the activities I chose were
in fact contributing to my community. Other children and their families were
benefiting from what I was doing, and I built fun relationships with other
families in the process.
Now that I’m in this “more mature” phase of my life, I
recognize the importance of giving back to the communities I live and work in.
Giving back isn’t just a responsibility, it’s therapeutic. When I was a single mom
for about five years. I discovered Westwinds, my church. The
place and the people came into my life when I needed them most. I was feeling a
bit lost, and I needed another type of family. They took me in and put me to
work. I offered the skills I had to help with things like office tasks, making
connections and editing their weekly newsletters and emails. Again, I was
volunteering and helping others, but for me, it served to bring me some peace.
follow their dreams. Once again, those are things that are my responsibilities, but they bring me great joy and keep me feeling young.
As far
as giving back to my communities now, I try to stay “plugged in” through continuing
to volunteer at Westwinds and serving on a couple of business group committees.
As my involvement in all four of my kids’ lives evolves and priorities shift, I
hope to seek out and get involved with organizations that I feel I can be of
service to. It’s the right thing to do, and it feels so good to do it.
Some ideas I can already think of that I’d like to tackle
someday are:
- Being a “big sister” for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization
- Spending an hour or two a week tutoring in reading at elementary schools
- Spending an hour or two a week keeping an elderly person company
- Using my marketing skills to bring awareness to a cause I believe in
- Serve food to the homeless on Thanksgiving day
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