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This week’s guest post is by Genevieve LaRocque, who shares her first volunteering experience and the lessons she learned about taking risks, facing challenges, and building connection within her community.

My first volunteering experience wasn’t fun, pleasant or validating. So why am I bothering to blog about it? 

Because it was something far more important.

Picture a shy, introverted young woman looking for an opportunity to feel involved, to be part of the world. She has a gentle smile and is brimming with the bravery it takes her to reach out to strangers and join a community.

Then put her in a room full of terrifying, mischievous young children who would rather be playing outside. 

She’s trying to keep smiling and project confidence. Inside, she’s falling on her backside. 

Like Charlie Brown after Lucy has tricked him into trying to kick the football. 

But in her mind’s eye, she had seen it all! A group of lovely children sitting around her in a perfect circle, leaning in so they wouldn’t miss a word. They laughed when she used funny voices for some of the characters and gasped when she left them on a cliffhanger…

Meanwhile on planet earth, she was the last to get picked for a reading group. The kids kept looking over at other groups, rolling their eyes, and acting generally bored. 

It was like she was back in school again, where being introverted was just considered weird. 

And she couldn’t get a lifeline from the other adult volunteers. They all looked like they were afraid the ick would rub off on them!

But 25 years later, when I think about it, I don’t feel the anxiety, rejection or awkwardness that I felt at the time. Actually, I do feel the awkwardness. But mainly, I feel so much pride that I did something challenging because I wanted to connect with people and make my community stronger. 

I went on to make a career based on real human connection. So why was this failed attempt at connecting so important?

Because in time it taught me that failure isn’t a permanent state. It’s an experience that you can build on. The painful emotions pass. The learning about yourself and the world stays with you. 

Sometimes you learn the best lessons when things don’t work out at all the way you planned. 

So take a chance. Do something challenging. Volunteer. 

With any luck, it’ll be a difficult experience.