To get the story moving, basically, we're involved in a family-based event. The VHO organized a family bonding session where families will be playing "amazing race" kind of games. Basically, all the family will be assigned 10 location at Chinatown area. Their mission is to go to the location assigned to them and complete the task allocated to them at each station.
As for Volunteers, we were required to arrive at the location 8 a.m in the morning. Since I had to attend two weddings the night before (one of it is at S'pore and another one is at JB). It's really been a tiring day for me on Sat and having to wake up so early in Sunday morning is almost 要我的命.. (Ok... I might be too 夸张 here... :P) But I definitely won't over estimate my stamina next time round... :P
I arrived at the event location and met with my fellow team members (we're allocated into different teams with different task)... And most of my team are aunties (only 4 out of 12 are consider youngster... When I said "youngster", I mean below 30 Yrs Old... :P). But believe it or not, those aunties were even more energetic then us! I mean, I was yawning all my way there and looking at those energetic aunties just make me feel I'm older than them! Geez~~
So let's make the story short. The role assigned to our team is "Motivator". Basically what we need to do is to just "Motivate" those families along their way. As for myself, I was assigned as "Motivator" + Traffic Controller. So basically I've to make sure the safety of the family who is "jay walking". Hence, I've been assigned to a street junction and I've to stay at the same spot from 10am - 1pm.
As I did not have any prior experience doing the "Motivator" role, I'm not really sure what to say to the participant when they walk pass around my area. When I was in the briefing, the staff told us that as a "Motivator", our role is very important as we're the one that going to motivate the participant to keep on going. And all we have to say is 加油！快到了！
To be honest, my first thought that pass my mind when I was assigned to the role is "harr... like that only har...". Well because I was looking forward to be assigned to a more "challenging" job like game marshals. And when our expectation is not met, we tend to be disappointed.
Well... Putting aside all that, on the event day itself, there I was standing at the junction and waiting for the arrival of the first family. From far away, I saw a group of family approaching, I was a bit nervous as I don't know what to say to them. When they saw me, they're so excited and ask me for the direction to their next station. After I explain to them and as they walked, I shout out "加油!!" to the family. And man... The smile on the families when they said "谢谢!" to me is just priceless!
There are different kind of families that I met along the journey. Some of them are really excited to complete their task, some of them are taking their time, some of them are tired and some of them are complaining about the route.
And all I can do is just said：
加油啊！
快到了！
你看。。就在那边！
你们要到第几个站啦？ 哇！已经第六个站啦？！好厉害哦！
加油！！多几个站而已就能完成了！！
And when those families heard those encouragement words, they somehow feel more energetic. It's like there's some power in those words that can push them forward and keep on keeping on.
Well.. Now I think back... Isn't this what life is all about? When people cross with our path, some of them are really excited about their life, some are taking it slow to enjoy their life, some are tired and stress out about their life, and some are complaining to you about their life.
And the least we can do for them is to speak the word of encouragement. Even when they complain to you, all you need to do is to just stretch out your ear and listen. Those words of encouragement might not change their life. As in the game itself, my words of encouragement does not change the outcome of the game. The outcome is still depends on the family themselves. My word is just simply giving them a slight push when they thought of giving up.
Isn't it wonderful that when you thought things are not going well and when you're in the brink of giving up, there's someone there to tell you that it's ok! Keep on keeping on! 加油！快到了！The rest of the road, it still depends on themselves. But let's be this small hands to push people on, to encourage them when they're about to give up. Let's plant a smile on someone's face today. Just by a simple words, a kind gesture, we can make this world a better place. Why not?
