Feel Good About Yourself

Have you ever had a day where you felt bad about yourself as a person? I’m sure we can all agree that has happened to each of us more than once, right?

Can you change that feeling or does it just take a good nights rest? Well, lets travel into the world of feeling good.

Once upon a time, I awoke to a tragic event on the television. The lady on the television was reviewing images of a tsunami that hit Japan. At that moment, I realized I had a warm bed to sleep in and plenty of food. The feeling of guilt struck me…

My group raising money for Japan.

The next day, I attended class where we had to find a project to do that gave back to the community. My group agreed that we wanted to help Japan even though it was not technically within Fairfax, VA. We discussed this with the teacher and she was really excited that we wanted to take the initiative to help Japan.

How did we succeed?

Well, my group worked with the Salvation Army to raise money. I went from business to business asking people to donate prizes for a raffle that would be held at school. (Of course, businesses do not just hand out merchandise without proof, so be sure to have extra copies of an email saying you are specifically helping an organization!) We received a lot of great prizes from different companies like Rave Theater and Hooters. This led us to begin our weeklong raffle. By the end of the week we raised roughly $300. This does not sound like a lot, but when disasters strike every bit counts.

How can you feel better about yourself?

Simply give back to the world you live in by:

T.J. saying goodbye to his kids
before heading to Afghanistan.

• Volunteering (animal shelters, Salvation Army, hospitals, etc.)
• Donating (money is needed, but animal shelters look for food donations as well as homeless shelters)
• Plant a tree (we take a lot from the planet, so give back to her by planting a tree)
• Send care packages to the troops 

Remember the old phrases you used to hear as a child, such as the one that says, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or "treat others like you want to be treated?" What I am trying to say is you can feel good about yourself if you help people, creatures, and nature every once in awhile. Have fun volunteering...it isn't a chore!

     -Remember to honor the veterans on Friday (Nov. 11)!

Do you have a great volunteering story you want to share?