Donating Blood and Volunteering

10 Jan, 2024

In my 2024 Resolutions post, I highlighted two items:

• Donate blood
• Volunteer with Epilepsy Ottawa

I've followed through with those points. Donating blood was an easy one - I booked an appointment for January 26^th. The reason I listed it as a "goal" is because the last time I tried donating blood, I was turned away because of my seizure in June of last year. Canadian Blood Services requires you to be at least 6 months seizure-free before you can donate again.

That 6 month date for me was December 5th, but with the craziness of the holiday season and travel plans, I couldn't make the commitment. Hopefully I won't be turned away this time, and I'll get my pin for my 25th donation.¹

The longer I delay booking an appointment, the harder it is to remember to do it. Once I get there I'll book the next appointment while I'm there. My excuse is always "I don't know my schedule!", as if it's impossible to re-schedule an appointment.

Volunteering with Epilepsy Ottawa

This one is a bit tougher for me. I'm an introvert - maybe not to the extreme, but I really like to keep to myself. I don't put myself out there very often. I had this item on my goal list since like...October? I kept moving it along to the next month.

I guess I am a little nervous about doing this, though I'm not sure why. I guess it's the whole "putting myself out there" thing. But I am lucky enough to have my epilepsy under control; I feel like I should be doing a bit more to help the community and this is one of the ways I can do it.

So I put my name in the volunteer form for events, weekday nights and weekends. We'll see what happens from here!

#goals