Service Above Self

This week's topic in my humanities class was service, specifically service for the "good life." We dissected the concept of community service into various components that summarized it as a whole such as integrity, altruism, and even selfishness, which I will further address. I was looking forward to this topic because community service is an important aspect of my life. The effect it has had on my life not only influenced my selected major (psychology, the counseling aspect of it), it also molded me into who I am this very moment—an individual passionate about guiding and helping others. For years I have been involved in community service of some sort: I tutored children, people my age, family members, and complete strangers; I helped coordinate relays or walks for a charitable cause; I also helped prepare meals for families that could barely afford a stick of gum. The reason why I put forth any time and effort into doing these activities is not because of how it “looks” to society or on transcripts but because I strive to create a difference in people’s lives in a positive and healthy manner. From this, I learned what my passions are, I learned to step out of my comfort zone and go out of my way to help people, and I learned just how significant the growth of the community is. Not once did I ever think that my efforts were for naught. The discussion evoked memories of the multiple services I have done and initiated throughout my life, especially while I was in high school and was involved with a handful of clubs committed to serving the community. One of my clubs abided by a philosophy called the “4-Way Test,” which is the first image I attached to this post. It beautifully encapsulates the purpose of service and its impact, even that of small contributions. These are my views on the philosophy: The first line “Is it the truth?” refers to “honesty.” Honesty is not necessarily the ability to speak the absolute truth; it is being able to speak the truth with genuine purpose rather than for selfish reasons. But, it is also about listening to what others have to say and providing everyone the opportunity to discuss their views without jumping to conclusions. The truth tends to be composed of our morals but not all morals are the same. The truth is also naked and subjective, and it is our judgment that colors the canvas. The second line “Is it fair to all concerned?” is another branch of integrity, which is fairness. Fairness is respecting everyone while maintaining a prejudice-free verdict regardless of any circumstance. When it comes to being fair, both sides of an argument are content with the final decision, even if it is not exactly what the original intentions were to begin with. In other words, fairness does not demand perfection—it welcomes change. The third line “Will it build goodwill and better friendships” primarily revolves around the fact that certain goals can be achieved independently whereas others that do entail collaboration or teamwork. Passions require a fervent individual that has the ability to generate the strength and enthusiasm needed in order to achieve a goal. But along the way, they will inevitably come across people with good intentions and they, too, will help create the stepping stones needed to reach those established goals. In other words, people are building goodwill and friendships. Working together to come up with multiple ideas reinforces personal growth and within the process, people are encouraging others through community services and enjoyable events that promote the necessity of unity and harmony. As mentioned earlier before, my class discussed selfishness. The reason being is because one of seminar leaders asked whether there is such thing as absolute altruism and a majority of the class answered no, including myself. The reason being is because people tend to be driven to work within certain activities that promote their beliefs and interests. This can be easily be viewed as “selfish.” However, selfishness is not always a negative thing, which is usually how it is characterized as. It is normal to seek services that one is passionate about because it reinforces one’s beliefs and inspires any possible goals, such as projects, derived from that service. Selflessness can also be negatively connoted because too much selflessness leads to the possibility of being taken advantage of. But, if there were no moments in which sacrifices were to be made, how else would one acknowledge what actually matters most to them or what “is beneficial to all concerned (the last line of the 4-Way Test)?” Selflessness is overall tantamount to service which ranges from the littlest things in life to major, but all generally create an impact in the community one way or another. Examples include walking the elderly across the street, helping with groceries and even babysitting for an hour or two. Humans are constantly growing and changing in terms of identity, and I strongly feel that every service I have participated in has integrated itself within my personality as I noted before. We learn how to take great care of ourselves by learning from our own hardships, experiences and from personal observations, and like a mirror, all factors reflect these lessons through the way they demonstrate their generosity towards others.