Today is my third visit since I first joined T.H.E. Seniors early this semester. For the first two visits, I had been assigned to visit Mdm Ho whose house does not require much of an effort to clean. Today, I had two new elderly residents to visit for the first time-- Mr Lin and Mdm Tan. Compared to Mdm Ho's house, Mr Lin's house requires much much more cleaning-- even the sink (I've never imagined that a sink will be a significant thing to clean) was in a bad state as thick lumps of dirt stuck stubbornly to the sides of the sink as well as to the drainage hole (where a few ants also happened to be crawling around). At the same time, an all-pervasive pungent smell permeated the entire house, making it hard to breathe... Nevertheless, I think that this experience is a very fulfilling one as it taught me to be tolerant and really be grateful for what I have-- a clean living environment and of course, my family members who shower me with care and concern. For the elderly residents, they have no one who is by their side 24/7 to help them along with life. All the loneliness and debilitating illnesses are too much to bear, yet they have no choice but to cope with what life throws at them.
Going back to the part on cleaning, I realised that sometimes things in life may not be what they seem; there's always a learning point in each and every thing that happens in life. No doubt the house may be dirty and smelly, and by all means we can grumble about the state of things, but by doing this, what do we really gain from it? We are merely doing injustice to ourselves by denying ourselves the chance to learn and to see things in a better light. Why not change the way we think-- precisely because the house is dirty, I was then given the chance to be of use and help someone clean up his/her house such that he/she has a much better living environment, which incidentally is what everyone would love to have. Nobody would want to live in a filthy place if they have the option of a cleaner living environment. Thus while I am still young and able-bodied, I am actually able to be of help and make a difference in someone's life. By thinking this way, a lot of seemingly 'arduous' tasks become something delightful. At the same time, I also feel much happier while volunteering my service.
In essence, I think I've learnt a lot today even though it was just a short two hours plus volunteering experience. I am really touched to see how a lot of us turned up to volunteer our service despite it being the peak period of the semester now--with all the projects and assignments becoming due and making us mad as hatters. It's really heartwarming to see the kindness that exudes from all those around me. I think it's something that's so hard to come by nowadays and I am really grateful to be surrounded by great people like y'all:)
-Shuqin
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