Cherry’s Thoughts on Mentoring, and Mentors Volunteering Again
We had another great SAYes mentor ‘meet‑up’ last week. It’s always nice to catch up with other mentors and swap stories.
I had a chance to speak with SAYes’ operations director, Andrew Dellis, for quite a while that evening because I really wanted to find out, as they begin their recruitment process for 2017, how SAYes intends to keep mentors coming back. It’s probably one of the organisation’s biggest challenges, and I understand why. To go from mentoring one young person who you’ve spent the year working with, straight to another, is a big deal. It takes resilience and energy. On top of that, this thing that we’re doing, it ain’t easy, folks. Don’t let anyone tell you it is. But here’s my question to myself and maybe it resonates with you as well. Why should it be?
So, why on earth did I expect volunteering to be easy? It’s a job, and if I look back on my year so far, it’s stretched me in ways I never imagined.
I want to switch gears on this blog and start using this platform to discuss things that I hope will make you think about signing up to mentor again next year. I also hope you’ll share these posts with your friends, family and colleagues on social media so that we can get more volunteers involved in this very important programme.
Today, I want to leave you with a poem that I recently read to my mentee. She opened my eyes to something last week that I don’t ever want to forget. As we help our mentees grow and adapt to the world around them, it’s important to remind them that how they feel and what they’ve been through doesn’t define who they are as human beings.
I hope you’ll share this poem that someone once shared with me. I find it so useful in my life. After I read it to my mentee, she asked for her own copy.
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
— Jellaludin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
Thanks for reading, Cherry