What is need?

I remember that during my first year of university I learned about Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Need. It outlined human need. I can still see in my mind’s eye how I neatly drew the model on my exam, feeling pretty proud of myself for now neat it was....full marks for sure.

While I may have theoretically understood (I did actually get full marks), it took me years to truly understand what it really meant. It was not until I started to pay for the roof over my head and the food on my table that it occurred to me that I had a level of good fortune that not everyone had.

I grew up with the luxury of being able to work towards my self actualization. I was sheltered, fed, clothed, had access to education and was encouraged to enjoy the arts. This is a reality not shared by so many.

Last week my work team went to the Ottawa Mission for our Christmas party. We spent our morning prepping food, cleaning dishes and clearing tables. It was great fun. There was laughter and chatter all morning. The volunteer coordinator was so sweet and couldn’t thank us enough.

As we finished our morning shift, they were readying the dinning room for the lunch service and clients had started to mill about. As we left one gentleman at the front of the line high-fived all of us. You could tell by sight that this man’s life was not easy but he still had mirth in his eyes and readily shared that with all of us.

I was struck by his positivity in the face of uncertainty (the majority of Ottawa Mission clients are homeless). These people, who had challenges to have their basic needs of food and shelter met, reminded me that life is uncertain but that there is joy to be found.

What I learned was that you need to

1) Pay attention to your needs, self-care makes you stronger and more able to give compassion and empathy.

2) Give gratitude for what you have.

3) When possible take time to share what you have, that includes your time. While the Mission gladly accepted our monetary donation, our volunteer coordinator told us that the time we gave was more valuable. This is the case for so many of these organizations.

When I got home that night I was chatting with my Dad. As I described our day I told him that I couldn’t help but feel I was the one who benefited most from that day.