by Travis Vermulm, Augustinian Volunteer
It is odd to me how easy it is to settle into routines; how quickly people start to view daily tasks as nothing more than a check mark on the list of daily activities. I caught myself falling into this very category the first week of October. After just over a month in Philadelphia in the new position at A.D.R.O.P., I was moving from one task to another checking the boxes off the list ensuring that I had completed everything.
I was efficient, yes, but I noticed one difference between my first week and the start of my second month. I glanced over a few items, not as if they weren’t important, but as if they were items. I reflected, at this moment, on a quote spoken by Mother Teresa:
“Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”
In past jobs, I realized, I had caught myself wandering past my daily jobs as though they were murals on a wall. I recognized them, I gave them a glance of attention, I thought I paid them the due they deserved, but I did not stop to truly appreciate how they could make me grow.
A simple act I may implement moving forward in this year of service may prevent me from falling into the mood of viewing my various jobs as simply marks on a list; to stop before embarking on the next task and ask myself, ‘What am I doing?” Such a simple question applied to a situation may help so much.
The Adeodatus meetings come to mind as I write this post. Every Thursday as 7:00 P.M. begins to draw near I normally grow incredibly excited for the meeting to come, to indulge in faithful sharing with people of such spiritual strength is a gift, but the first Thursday of October I felt tired from the week’s events and questioned whether I should even attend.
I was looking at the meeting, in that moment, as an item on the list and was neglecting to ask myself, ‘What am I doing?”
If I had stopped for a mere moment and inquired internally about the direction of my evening the choice to stay at home or to go to the meeting would have been obvious.
It is important to reflect on how much love and effort is being put into a task. If I reflect on how much care I am putting into daily tasks it reminds me when I need to rest and replenish my ability to fully commit to certain items on my agenda. Maybe one week I am overloading my schedule and not realizing that, though I would like to fully commit my love and attention to every single task, I cannot possibly do so.
Moving forward in my volunteer year I will remember the words of Mother Teresa and consider how much I am putting into each job I fulfill. All tasks are impactful in different ways, whether one is spending time with someone in need of a friend or simply taking one item off another person’s already full agenda.