Volunteering at St. Jude's in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
I slept and I dreamt that life is all joy.
I woke and I saw that life is all service.
I served and I saw that service is joy.
― Khalil Gibran
Visiting a refugee camp in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
While reading an article today about how millennials seem more interested in living lives defined by meaning rather than happiness or financial gain, I was delighted to see that the No. 1 place where millennials would like to work is St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Come to think of it, it was actually a millennial (a student) who first got me interested in volunteering at St. Jude’s in Beirut–by telling me how much he enjoyed volunteering there himself.
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
― Mahatma Gandhi
Each week when I sign in for my shift at St. Jude’s, I notice the signatures of some of my students from the days before. Like a revolving door, we’re taking turns playing with the Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian children with cancer at the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon–and, in the process, we’re probably learning more about life than we could in a classroom. Over the past year and a half, I’ve found my volunteer work at St. Jude’s to be one of the most meaningful aspects of my life here in Beirut–and now I really can’t imagine my life without it.
With a war raging next door in Syria, it’s not just economic woes prompting some millennials here in Beirut to think about living a more meaningful life. With over a reported 1 million Syrian refugees living within Lebanon’s borders today, there’s no shortage of ways to serve those in need–be it on campus (below) or in one of the refugee camps nearby. Maybe it’s a good sign that millennials are focusing more on making meaning than chasing after riches or happiness, since happiness may not be as good for the mind and body as researchers once believed…
At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received,
how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat,
I was naked and you clothed me.
I was homeless, and you took me in…
-― Mother Teresa
Students helping Syrian refugees in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
