3 Top Ways to Give Back to Community

This is a topic that is very dear to my heart. We live in a materialistic world. Would you agree? Don’t we need more than we have? Don’t we try to get more and more from the world? We also live in a competitive world. Don’t we try to get it before others? Then how does giving back works? Let’s first try to understand why we need to give back. Then discuss 3 top ways to give back to the community.

One of my friends shared this below picture on WhatsApp. I was planning to write this post anyway, but this did trigger it. I exist because WE exist.

It’s so interesting “I exist because WE exist,”. Do we really feel this way all the time? In today’s competitive world, doesn’t I come before WE?

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.”

– Tony Robbins

Why We Need to Give Back

Why do we need to give back? There could be several reasons. Let’s explore some of them.

Gratitude

Foremost, giving is a way to express our gratitude. It gets backs to “I exist because we exist”. So giving is a way to show our gratefulness. Gratitude is the key to live a happy and fulfilled life. People who express their gratitude every day are much happier. Sometimes is can be as simple as saying thank you or sending a thank you note.

Health

Feel Good and Happy

How do we feel when we donate money or something selflessly? Unquestionably, it is one of the greatest feeling. There are scientific explanations. Scientist believe altruistic behaviors stimulate our brain to release endorphins. The endorphins increase production of dopamines. And these dopamines drive the feeling of happiness. It reduces stress and feelings of pain.

Live Longer

So a happy mind and reduced stress help with peace of mind. Peace of mind helps us to sleep well. Lower stress, better sleep improves our health. Reduce cholesterols and probabilities of heart disease. Also, that could reduce obesity.

Several studies have found people who give consistently live longer. They find older people who are helpful to others reduce their risk of dying by nearly 60 percent. They compare this to peers who provide no sort of help, either emotional, physical or monetary help.

Boost Self Esteem

The action of giving has multiple effects on our self-esteem. Why does it get a boost?

Feel Responsible

When we give, we feel more responsible. It feels like we have done our part. It is our duty to give back to the world that has given us so much. Also, it feels like we have shouldered some responsibility for issues that plague our world.

Feel Privileged

Why does it make us feel privileged when we can give? It makes us feel worthy to help someone else selflessly. The satisfaction it brings can be unparalleled. Everyone needs to manage their own needs first. Everyone can give based on their means. Either monetarily or through other means, like volunteering. It is our ability to give that makes us privileged.

Become More

The act of giving makes us bigger than what we are. It helps us to become more. Though the entire purpose of giving is selfless, it is likely who give generously also get more in return. It could be through various means, like building connections, getting to know people, or finding opportunities for work. Sometimes it could be just the goodwill that gets the person to get back more in life. Other times, it could be just giving develops to build our character stronger. Build over confidence and capabilities which help us earn or get much more in life.

Become Fulfilled

Giving helps us find our purpose in life. There is a reason we live for. We may even want to save more so we can give more. It could even help us live a minimalistic life. And nothing can be more fulfilling than living for others.

3 Top Ways to Give Back to Community

So how do we give back to our community and the world at large? There are several ways. Let’s discuss 3 top ways to give back to our community.

Donations

Monetary Donations

Do you pledge every year how much you can or will give back? There are many global and local institutions through which we can give. These are non-profit institutions and have some expenses for fundraising and their overheads. The bulk of your donations go directly to the community or purpose you’d like to support.

Blood Donations

Another noble way of giving is blood donations. Our system generates the blood that we donate in several months. So if you are healthy and eligible to donate, consider donating blood regularly.

Organ Donations

This might sound a little out of place. But we all can pledge to donate our organs after we die. This is probably the most invaluable donation one can make. Giving another person an organ which can help them live is like giving life back. Also, giving an organ like eyes donation can help someone see probably who has never seen before.

Volunteering

The other way we can give back is volunteering our time for community work. Our time is

Community or Charity Work

Every community has its own volunteering work. It could be directly working to build something for any community places like education centers or shelter homes. Or working as a helping hand with any institution. That does community or charity work. There are many types of work we can do, and mostly everyone can help.

Teaching

In many developing countries, not all children have access to primary education. It could be because of governments don’t have adequate infrastructure. Or children get engaged in earning livelihoods too early. So we can make a difference. We can choose to work with social bodies or non-governmental organizations and help in teaching.

Knowledge Sharing

Writing and Blogging. This way we can give back to the world by sharing our knowledge and experiences. There is so much we can learn by reading. And blogs are one of the best online resources available today in the internet age. This is because time is the most invaluable thing that we can give. Blogging is also a way to engage in topics that matter. That’s why blogging is one of the best ways to give back.

Conclusion

To summarize, these are 3 top ways we can give back to the community. Donations. Volunteering. And knowledge sharing. We all can give in our own ways. That works for us and makes most sense. That could be money or our time. There is something we can always give. So it doesn’t matter how much it is. Because the intent matters most. We all live life for a purpose (s). Thus can giving be one of them? What do you think? What do you think are top ways to give back to the community?