Congratulations, you have now begun reading the story of the world’s greatest volunteer.
Heaven knows it was scorching hot; a trip to a shopping mall was a great way to cool down. My day just ended, another boring day for the books I thought. My knees were still shaking after the torment of window shopping. All I ever wanted was to shop and buy new clothes, but no, all I had in my pocket was enough money for me to go home. If only I had more money that day then this would never be, I was grouchy, plagued by the thought of useless and financial stress.
When asked, I would always say that the shopping mall is my favorite place in the world. It is a perfect venue to escape the ruthless and vile world and exercise my selfishness and vanity. I have witnessed and seen countless events in a shopping mall. People doing this and people doing that; people buying this, people selling it back double the price - the routine never ends. I am arrogant, selfish, most of the time all I do is think about myself. I do not care about other people and what happens to them, all I think is how I look and what I will buy tomorrow.
My day was worst than anyone could have imagined: the colorful world that I once knew was slowly fading into shades of black and white. The world became smaller than it seems as the clouds covered the blue sky as I exited the mall. I just hate this unpredictable weather as the rain fell like bullets.
Beneath the shed waiting for the bus, each drop of rain fell mocking me of how useless I am. What is my place in this world I thought, and then I saw her.
She was there, like me, patiently waiting for the bus. She was a fragile old woman who was not suppose to be there, she was someone who should have stayed home, and she was a person who should have someone with. Her lips were dry and yet I saw her wet and freezing, her clothes soiled and dirty, her hair gray and messy and yet her eyes deep and focused. Both of her hands were busy holding big and heavy grocery bags. I took a brave step and walked toward her.
She looked at me, I saw her face wet with a mixture of sweat and rain. The world stood still as she smiled. I was never the type of person who would help freely or serve unselfishly. And that moment, as the rain fell and I saw this old woman, I realized what I had to do. The bus came. I rushed to the old women and asked her if I can help carry her plastic bags.
She slowly nodded and I took the plastic bags as she took the lead as we rode the bus. The bags were heavy, I used to spend hours in the gym, each bag weighed more than 15 pounds. How can she have carried these bags? Whats inside of them?
I dared take a peek as I saw cans of baby milk. “Those are for my neighbor and for her baby. My neighbor is sick and her baby needs milk. I bought some medicine and milk, it’s something I want to do to help,” she explained. Then I saw her close her eyes for a second and breathed deeply and smiled. She said thank you – the words vibrated through out my entire body.
As I laid my head and pondered, she stood up took her bags, said nothing and went down the bus. I looked the window and I saw her wave, there I smiled for the first time that day and waved back. There was no flash photography, award ceremony, ribbon cutting or press release for this act.
Now I believe volunteering does not have to be glamorous or extravagant, simple acts of random kindness makes a difference. It does not matter if you are rich or poor, strong or weak, young or old, male or female, what matters is you volunteer fraction of your time and think about others.
I have learned a great lesson that day. That old woman with her sweet smile helped me realize the value of sacrifice. She carried those heavy bags home, all I can do is temporarily lighten her load and pray that angels watch her for me. That old woman is the World’s Greatest Volunteer. Like her, we should volunteer our mind, body, and heart to help others despite of the troubling rains and heavy burdens.
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