Devan Grewal is a fourteen-year-old student and youth blog contributor from Burnaby, BC. and the author of this post.
Community is a place where you feel accepted and safe and share something in common with the people around you such as location, interests or a sense of identity.
Having a good community and leaders around you is a great way to get you through some of the most challenging times in your life.
For me, I haven’t had a lot of hardships but for the ones I did have, having a community around me was essential for me to move forward.
In the Sikh faith, it is widely practiced to serve others before yourself, so whenever I go to the Sikh temple it’s like I get to erase everything in the past and just be in the present moment serving other people with my friends and family.
Whether it is handing out food to the homeless, washing dishes, or cleaning the floors, being with my community and serving always puts a smile on my face no matter how bad my day was.
Belonging to something or someone is crucial to our mental and physical health, and in a community, you get just that and more. I think the most important thing you get from this setting is purpose.
Purpose gives your life direction and often prevents or stops issues or addictions. Having trustworthy people around you that will support you when times get tough is also very important. Sometimes we all need a helping hand and having a network of people you can rely on really helps.