Hi! I dont know what to do.. please help me..?

Question

I've always believed that my passion is in serving the poor and needy. However, I am also aware that with this kind of career, I will not be able to earn much. I am not really after earning good money but I am faced with the responsibility of supporting my family financially. We are not really in much need and my parents are not pressuring me but I know, I feel, and I believe that they are just waiting for me to get a job. I've long been looking for a good job but nothing has come my way. Now, I am back into serving the people as I've just recently joined a non-profit organization. This is what I would like to enter at least for the next few years. However, the need to support my family financially by having a nice-paying job is still present. My present organization will certainly not be of help in terms of my financial needs. What shall I do? Please help me. I also feel ashamed of myself since I believe that if I really want to help, I just have to do it without looking at rewards.TY

Answer 1

Dear Ty;

My heart goes out to you. I do believe that individuals with a family, our first priority is to take care of our family first... doing so is also taking care of ourselves... before you can be of real help to others you must have your own life in order, first and foremost. This is plain logic. It will only work against you if you are in a 'need situation' and then leave it to go out into society to focus on helping others.

There are some areas in professional life that can provide a good income and serve the social purpose of helping those in need. You might consider certain fields of medicine or medical treatment. Also, many religions offer the same oppportunity. Though I do believe that the clergy that make decent to good salary are college educated with at least a bachelor's degree, most often in my denomination (Episcopal) it is a Masters degree or a Phd.

Another idea is to get a high-paying professional career and then donate x-amount of hours on your off-time to a charity that benefits from that profession. For instance, Legal aide for the poor is an example of what can happen in the legal professional arena.  Much can be done by helath care professionals, and not just a medical doctor, think outside that box...maybe health care that has to do with vision, dental or mental disorders.... all of these issues are areas that the poor need help in.

Another idea is to get the career that you want and then join a business/service organization (Kiwanis, Lyons, Rotary, etc) that focuses on social causes that you have a heart for. Sometimes an organization can get more done than an individual.

I hope this helps ;-)

Answer 2

I have to support my family too, so I volunteer for organizations to fulfill the passions I have and I work full time for a for-profit organization during the day.