Survival or service?
I found myself staying at home with no job, running out of money FAST! Nothing new, right? Even with a job, I still felt so... forced to fight for survival. I tried everything to manage to save some money, but it always slipped away. This past year I found myself often wondering "What am I going to do now?" In all this craziness called LIFE, I tried to think of ways to get my thoughts off of me, and try to help somebody else. It is pretty hard to do that when you barely have time for yourself.
I have been focusing on myself, on my problems, trying to find my way out. Then a thought came to my mind, an idea that would help me a bit to fill up a corner in the fridge. Go and give blood! I thought to myself: "Free thorough blood test, and 60 Lei (10% of my salary) in food tickets. How smart I am!" I went there in June, and gave half a liter of blood, and went home on cloud no.9. They told me I could go again only after three months. I was so disappointed, but still happy.
I thought about that for a while. I had somebody tell me that I shouldn't give blood because those people in the hospital do not deserve it. That made me so angry! How could someone say that? I started wondering who I had helped with my blood. All of the sudden, my selfish act turned in my head into a service act. I may not know who I had helped, but I did help somebody! Since then, I started counting the days till I could go and give more blood.
Here is the interesting part of the story.
Two months later (last Monday) I was in Arad, returning from the temple dedication. I forgot when I had given blood, so I went to the transfusion center. I kept wondering if my blood results were good, if I could still give blood. I was standing in line to sign in, when they turned down a woman who had given blood on June 14th. Another man signed in, and then it was my turn. The nurse took my file, and she didn't get to check my last date (June 21st) because she saw on the results that I had suffered from anemia last time. She hurried me into the lab, and did the test again - cured! She signed my paper, weighed me, and sent me to the other nurse to stick the needle in my arm. Apparently, I have thin veins, which annoyed the nurse, but the bag filled up faster than the other guy's laying in the bed next to me. The nurse was surprised, so she didn't write on my file that I couldn't give blood anymore. I was thrilled! I looked at the bag full of blood, and I tried to imagine somebody whose life would benefit because I took 15 minutes of my time to go to the hospital. I left happy, and a bit dizzy. I was tire, so I did something very stupid - this is a WARNING to those who don't know... I bought a bottle of Mountain Dew, hoping to invigorate me. Big mistake! The caffeine raised my heart beat, almost sending me into shock! I was lucky to get home on time and lay in bed... three hours later, as I tried to sit up, the room started spinning, and blood gushing out my arm... not a pretty image, but I learned my lesson - no caffeinated drinks after giving blood! Other than that, no side effects :D
It's funny ho something so selfish as having more food in my fridge actually turned into serving someone in need of help :D God works in mysterious ways ... which become clear as we step back, and look at the big picture.
I have been focusing on myself, on my problems, trying to find my way out. Then a thought came to my mind, an idea that would help me a bit to fill up a corner in the fridge. Go and give blood! I thought to myself: "Free thorough blood test, and 60 Lei (10% of my salary) in food tickets. How smart I am!" I went there in June, and gave half a liter of blood, and went home on cloud no.9. They told me I could go again only after three months. I was so disappointed, but still happy.
I thought about that for a while. I had somebody tell me that I shouldn't give blood because those people in the hospital do not deserve it. That made me so angry! How could someone say that? I started wondering who I had helped with my blood. All of the sudden, my selfish act turned in my head into a service act. I may not know who I had helped, but I did help somebody! Since then, I started counting the days till I could go and give more blood.
Two months later (last Monday) I was in Arad, returning from the temple dedication. I forgot when I had given blood, so I went to the transfusion center. I kept wondering if my blood results were good, if I could still give blood. I was standing in line to sign in, when they turned down a woman who had given blood on June 14th. Another man signed in, and then it was my turn. The nurse took my file, and she didn't get to check my last date (June 21st) because she saw on the results that I had suffered from anemia last time. She hurried me into the lab, and did the test again - cured! She signed my paper, weighed me, and sent me to the other nurse to stick the needle in my arm. Apparently, I have thin veins, which annoyed the nurse, but the bag filled up faster than the other guy's laying in the bed next to me. The nurse was surprised, so she didn't write on my file that I couldn't give blood anymore. I was thrilled! I looked at the bag full of blood, and I tried to imagine somebody whose life would benefit because I took 15 minutes of my time to go to the hospital. I left happy, and a bit dizzy. I was tire, so I did something very stupid - this is a WARNING to those who don't know... I bought a bottle of Mountain Dew, hoping to invigorate me. Big mistake! The caffeine raised my heart beat, almost sending me into shock! I was lucky to get home on time and lay in bed... three hours later, as I tried to sit up, the room started spinning, and blood gushing out my arm... not a pretty image, but I learned my lesson - no caffeinated drinks after giving blood! Other than that, no side effects :D
It's funny ho something so selfish as having more food in my fridge actually turned into serving someone in need of help :D God works in mysterious ways ... which become clear as we step back, and look at the big picture.
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