Frank Okunak is a business leader in both large-scale global businesses as well as early-stage start up ventures. In his spare time, Frank Okunak enjoys traveling to various countries and experiencing new cultures, as well as volunteering in his local community. In the following article, Frank Okunak discusses the positive benefits of community service and volunteering.
It is in the collective nature of all humans to be a part of a community. It is not only humans who have this innate sense but most animals share this sense of community as well. The reason behind this common thread is the ease of shared resources. Life is easier and more productive when resources are shared.
Frank Okunak says that community also provides a shared faith that each member’s individual needs will be met. It increases the feeling that each individual matters more as a result of this community membership than if that same individual were alone.
As a result, the sharing of responsibilities multiplies the benefits received like a lever decreases the force needed to move an object. Individual benefits gained from shared responsibility are greater than individual benefits gained from individual effort. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Of the manifold benefits received through shared responsibility, there are six that are the most prominent.
Frank Okunak on Connecting with Others
If a sense of community is the driving force behind the benefits of shared responsibility, it stands to reason that sharing responsibilities increases the sense of community. Like a perpetual motion machine, one side powers the other explains Frank Okunak.
From a scientific perspective, it makes perfect sense. By sharing the responsibility of completing one goal, two goals are met. First, the achievement of completing the spoken goal such as cleaning up a polluted stream or completing a housing project.
Second, the mere fact of coming together for a common goal satisfies a deeper, biological need that dwells inside each member of the community. Frank Okunak says that the sense of self is made greater by individual contribution to the welfare of the group.
Health of Body and Mind
Frank Okunak says that volunteering allows for an opportunity to get off the couch and out into the sunlight. The exercise the volunteer gets is much preferable to remaining static inside the home. Physical exercise releases endorphins and sunlight allows the body to produce Vitamin D.
By shifting mental focus from dwelling on personal problems to community solutions, volunteer work combats depression more healthily and permanently than the use of pharmaceuticals alone.
Career Advancement
Frank Okunak says that the skills obtained from volunteer work can boost performance at work. It’s not just the new skills learned but new relationships formed, and an increased level of confidence all combine to multiply output and efficiency. New opportunities can also be uncovered through an expanded network of new relationships.
Invites New Habits
The act of volunteering forces the individual out of old ruts and into new and beneficial habits. Old habits may be comfortable, but they allow the mind to grow stagnant. Stagnation is often paired with fetid and paints negative pictures of a depressing, dull life.
Conversely, new is often paired with exciting and paints the opposite picture of life. People are happier when they are out doing something new and exciting reports Frank Okunak.
Improves Surroundings
No one wants to live alongside litter, pollution, and the normal issues inherent in living in a community. Problems such as homelessness, structural decay, and the paving over of nature can all be addressed by community service. Paving is necessary but planting trees can reinvite nature. Building homes can aid homelessness. Removing litter can beautify the surroundings. There is no need to sit and watch as problems grow and multiply.
Provides a Sense of Purpose
Frank Okunak says that helplessness is the feeling that nothing can be done to solve difficult problems or alleviate a bad set of circumstances. Helplessness leads to hopelessness which is the feeling that nothing can be done about anything, ever. The cause of helplessness is immobility which can be cured by going out and contributing. Even if the contribution is small, the cumulative effect is large.
Conclusion
There are scientific reasons why there are benefits to getting up, going out, and joining other members of the community to work toward a common goal. Of course, not every problem can be permanently solved because litter will reaccumulate, and paint will start peeling again.
This should not be cause for concern however because entropy is an unstoppable force but as a community, people can harvest benefits from working together to overcome it. In essence, if it weren’t for entropic decay, there would be no way to reap the rewards of coming together to push it back.
