I am Charitable

         I wanted to start off by saying that I am a giver/caretaker by nature, and to my detriment sometimes.  There is a reason I went into the healthcare field, it is part of who I am.  It is a lot of the times, how I see my worth, my value.  More on that later.

        Being charitable is not always about giving.  Sure, there is a component of giving in charity; you give money and time to a cause, but charity runs deeper than that.  Charity is about an emotional need, having empathy towards a cause, and a desire to want to help.  A prime example of a charity, is the Silent River Benevolent Foundation, and how as a school, and as a community, we raise funds for multiple charities.  Again, in this instance, we are being charitable through monetary donations.  Hopefully, when we are raising this money, we aren't just collecting and giving funds because it is something we are expected to do, to earn that green stripe or to look good in the public eye.  When we are doing events like these, we should be thinking about the organizations that we're helping, and have an emotional attachment to the outcome.  A greater purpose of these events is to instill a greater sense of community, and to teach others about empathy.

        Charity is more than just this though.  Charity is also about time spent volunteering.  Fostering a dog, is a charitable act.  It doesn't cost me anything to foster a dog, other than my time.  I love animals, dogs especially, so for me, this charitable act is also one that feeds my spirit.  It makes me feel good to be helping these animals.  Some of these dogs are just in need of a home, but some come from abusive backgrounds, and there is a lot more work to be done.  Nero, my adopted dog was one of those cases, and Morgan, the dog I recently fostered is another.  These are dogs that need more than just a home, they need patience, understanding, and love.  

        Before I talked about how I can be giving to a fault and how my self worth is tied into this persona.  As damaging as that mindset can be, the charitable work I do sits outside of that mentality.  The charity I do is because, even though it may be seen as an act of giving, I am also receiving a lot of benefit through it.  The time, energy and sometimes money I put into these acts come back at me one hundred fold, because they make me feel good.  I can't put it any other way, than that, these deeds make me feel good.  Where as, the negative side of being that giver/caretaker, outside of charity, is sometimes I feel drained.  It is important to make that distinction.