Seva Story #16
Today’s Seva story comes from Yvonne from Michigan. Seva means selfless service for the benefit of community. I am sharing these seva stories so we can get ideas from each other and spread positive news.
Yvonne writes “I have recently retired from a high level management position in an automotive company and am fortunate to be able to explore options for the next part of my life….Let’s call it chapter 3.
Retirement now enables me to continue my volunteer work as a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing counselor. I am grateful to have been available to participate in many assignments from workplace shootings to counseling high schoolers to debriefing firefighters.
I was raised to have respect for others and cannot imagine a society without firefighters, police and EMT. Their dedication and sacrifice is truly exemplary and I have a new found respect and am humbled to be able to do my part to help one man/woman perform this service for us again tomorrow.
By volunteering I now recognize the strength it takes to ask for help. I have a deeper compassion for what people may encounter every day. I have learned to pay more attention and to listen more actively. It is astounding that one additional question “so…what else is going on?” might make all the difference. This simple question brought tears to the eyes of a highschooler who needed to talk about that deep secret that he had never shared. This simple question opened up a proud firefighter to ask for more help in an area that he was struggling with unrelated to the critical incident. This simple question helps me, personally, to inquire within myself, evaluate deeper my intentions and motives, say a prayer and reach out to someone if that is what I need. Volunteering in this way has allowed me to identify with people that I would have otherwise never crossed paths.”
Please send me your seva story to info@johannawaters.com or call 808-214-0129. STS – Spread the Seva!
