Today I got my official notification of my appointment as a Justice of the Peace and it got me thinking about why I do what I do and always feel the need to help out where I can.
Quite of number of people ask me this question and my answer is always “I just do it because I want to”. Why is this the case? I can’t really answer that. Maybe it is because when I was growing up I received help from others or maybe it is because my mum taught me that helping others is the right thing to do. It is probably both to be honest and it is probably the fact that I would not be where I am today without getting this help.
I have always had this desire to give back to society. Whether it be helping individuals or organisations and whether it be a paid engagement or voluntary work I always want to find a way to ensure that the recipient of my assistance is in a better position after I have finished doing whatever it is I am doing than they were before I started.
Being a perfectionist I never do things half-assed and when it comes to my voluntary work I always find myself working that little bit harder to make a difference. Not saying that I don’t work hard and to the best of my ability when I am getting paid, but when it comes to helping anyone I never want to disappoint and will put the task first before myself or my family (which often comes at the risk of making my wife very upset !)
It is always about finding that balance between helping others and looking after Number 1 and Number 1’s family which gets harder and harder as my family grows and my time is needed there, and rightly so.
But even with increasing family demands I know that I will always find the time to help others and fortunately I have a wife that supports me in this because she understands that it is something in my genetic makeup that drives this and it is who I am and I will probably never change.
And I don’t want to change. I get great satisfaction out of helping others and making a difference where I can and hence why I often find to hard to say “No” !
James Solomons 