Love and Service

Chasing Gratitude

Small Gifts Provide Joy for a Lifetime

Are you one of those addicted to the feeling you get when you help someone? I certainly am, and I know exactly when that addiction started.

I learned the truth about that feeling in the sixth grade.

At the time, I had been taking piano lessons for several years. I loved playing the piano, but I am embarrassed to admit that the piano-playing didn’t align with the rugged manly image that I was trying hard to nurture and project. So, needless to say, I was certainly not a prodigy, but I was fairly capable for an 11-year-old who spent most of his time playing basketball instead of practicing my scales.

Volunteering

One day my 6th-grade teacher, Mrs. Chang, explained that she had an opportunity where we could volunteer to share our skills with first-grade disabled children. She explained how much all the participants would benefit from this mentorship opportunity. The plan was to have a culminating event in the cafetorium at the end of the session where the children could show off their new skills to their parents.

She was really selling it hard.

There was a terrible long pause after she asked for volunteers. No one was raising their hand! I…