Volunteering is a great way to get out of a slump. Service of any kind is really great at gaining new perspective and finding value in life. It helped me realign my life years ago, too.
But I ended up taking it too far. Boundaries start to get blurry, my value started to get wrapped up in my service, to the point it became “well if I stop serving I’ll be worthless”. Which is a tough feeling to face, especially when a subset of the people you end up serving, while appreciative, really end up not caring that much about you as a person. They’re not in a place to give you emotional support, usually.
All that to say, balance is the spice of life. Service is great. Just be sure to balance it out with another source of replenishment.
But I ended up taking it too far. Boundaries start to get blurry, my value started to get wrapped up in my service, to the point it became “well if I stop serving I’ll be worthless”. Which is a tough feeling to face, especially when a subset of the people you end up serving, while appreciative, really end up not caring that much about you as a person. They’re not in a place to give you emotional support, usually.
All that to say, balance is the spice of life. Service is great. Just be sure to balance it out with another source of replenishment.