Mrs. M wrote:
This is exactly what I thought when the OP first posted.....volunteer - for anything - soup kitchen, nursinghome, walking humane society dogs, etc. GIVE something, rather than GIVE UP something.
I basically concur, but would add that *giving* something does not preclude also giving up something. Sometimes, giving up something can help you to give, too.
Inspired by the book The Power of Half, I am giving up half of my income, not forever, but at least for Lent.
I'm a single guy in my late 20's, and I don't make a ton of money, but I have way more than a single guy in his 20's needs. Having already declared that for my next 3 paychecks, "Half of this is not mine," I am finding it much much easier to *give* (to charities working in Haiti, to local charities that I've always felt I should support but haven't, to my church's food pantry, to friends or neighbors who have greater need than I do, to an unemployed friend who needed cab fare to get to a job interview, whoever, whatever). I could do that anytime, but now that I've decided, officially, I have no claim whatsoever to half of "my" paycheck, it at least temporarily quiets the selfish voice inside.