Just one hour a day can make a difference

Just one hour a day can make a difference

April 8, 2010, 1:09 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bingo, inspiration, morale, one hour, patience, shelter, volunteer

Sure, there are only 24 hours in the day.  On average people spend 7 of them sleeping, 9 of them traveling to, from and everything in between for work, which leaves eight hours that are quickly sucked up by eating, bathing, watching TV, helping the kids with homework, going for a quick jog and so much more.  So how could you possibly ask me for a precious hour out of my day?

I know, even though I work from home and get to determine my own schedule sometimes it feels like I simply don’t even have an extra hour to eat or do what I want to do.  But what I really need to do is spend that hour doing something that isn’t for myself.  It is amazing how just 60 minutes can transform your day and outlook on life.

As mentioned in a previous post a friend of mine works for the largest shelter in our city.  When I asked about volunteer opportunities he mentioned playing Bingo with the women and children who are staying there; at first, this didn’t seem like enough.  I wanted to get dirty, raise money, help cook dinner or do something that is normally associated with helping out our fellow man.  But it seems that sitting down and organizing a game can do much more for the morale than spooning mounds of potatoes onto someone’s plate at dinnertime.

Since I am generally a shy person I was quite nervous to walk in and start this game; in fact, truth be told, I almost canceled at the last moment.  I have only played Bingo a few times but never led a game so the “guests” at the shelter helped me get started and after about ten women sat around to play we got the game rolling.  There was a young girl about 3 years old who was so shy, just like I am, so I asked her if she wanted to help me spin the metal cage.  Boy did she ever!  Once she got the hang of it she was on a roll, quite literally.  By the end of the hour she was handing them to me two at a time and I could barely read off the numbers before two more were placed delicately into my hands.

Although it was something small, there was something that this little girl did that made an impression on me that I haven’t been able to forget, nor do I want to.  When another young girl, about 9 or so, asked to spin the wheel I said “of course” without thinking about my youngest friend.  I turned to look at her and saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes, yet she was still so quiet.  After a moment I realized why she was crying and asked if she wanted to spin it again on the next round.  She nodded yes and patiently waited for her turn.

Now I know, at her age, I might have thrown a fit.  As a former preschool teacher I know that other children her age would have screamed, cried, banged their feet and thrown a complete tantrum over something even smaller than that.  And here was this girl, so polite, waiting to spin the wheel on her turn.  Even to this day I still get upset over things I realize later shouldn’t have bothered me so, and I too could learn much from this little girl.  She was my inspiration that day and I look forward to seeing her again in a week or so.

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