It's In You to Give

OLately I have been feeling like I would like to give more back to the world in general. I have considered volunteering, but my problem with dealing with strangers has made it difficult for me to take action. (I want to volunteer for the ROM this coming spring though.) On Saturday, I decided to donate blood for the first time. Our townhall was having a blood drive and, conveniently enough, I had some books to pick up at the library there. It seemed to me that Someone was telling me that it was a good time to give, and I did so gladly.

I was a bit surprised by the sort of people that were there. I was expecting to see granola-eating, sandal-wearing, over-the-hill hippies, but they were actually all average people, just like me. And the process itself was much less painful than I was anticipating--I hardly felt a thing. The entire process took a little over an hour, with the actually donation and recovery time being about fifteen minutes. (First-time donors are required to take a little longer to rest.) Oh, the cookies and juice were great, too.

In all seriousness, this is something that I plan to do on a regular basis. It is fairly painless, and takes only about an hour of my time. I am more then willing to give that hour and a little of my blood in order to save another person's life. What about you?

Interested in donating blood?
Canadian Blood Services
America's Blood Centres