...make you feel appreciated when you really weren't doing anything with the intent of being appreciated, you were just doing it because you enjoy doing it.
I enjoy two-way radio.
I enjoy getting out in the woods.
I L O V E maps!
I enjoy general geekery.
I have managed to convince some people that if they need help with these things, they can call me and I will show up to do things I enjoy doing.
The people I have convinced are my local search and rescue folks.
They call me. I show up and play with my toys in beautiful surroundings far away from cell phone coverage, and I really enjoy doing it. I run radios, I check in on "my people" out in the field to make sure they are alright and doing well and don't need anything. I ask them where they are and plot it on a map. I keep logs of every transmission and signal I receive. I document activities and notable events. They often feed me, and at the end of the day I go home with a smile, a feeling of "I'm a helper!", and a bit of a tan from sitting on a ridgeline all day doing my thing.
That's really all I wanted: an opportunity to get out and be helpful and play with my toys. A kick in the tail to get UP and OUT and DO SOMETHING that doesn't involve sitting on social media all day. I'm not very good at motivating myself to do things unless there's an outside driving force.
And yesterday, at the hotwash (end of shift debrief) I got a lot of people saying very nice things to me. How they were thankful for the good, clear, strong comms. How they appreciate the upbeat, friendly-but-still-somewhat-professional voice on the other end of the line while they're out busting their humps in the brush, dragging themselves through brushy slot canyons in freezing cold rushing water, or literally climbing the side of a mountain. How they appreciate some calm in the middle of a storm when it gets ugly and people start to panic or get overly excited. And how the actual managers say "thanks. You made my job easy and kinda boring" while they sit in their camping chairs in the shade next to the cooler BSing while I keep track of things and only bug them for stuff I don't have a good answer for (this is directly related to how well they brief me at the start of the mission).
When a team from out of your area says "wow, I wish we had someone like you in our area - want to come play with us?", that's high praise. That feels really good.
And then when the heads honcho gives you the first one of the new unit patches (none of the actual team members have them yet and I'm just a volunteer that they call in - I'm not even an official member of their team) - that's super touching. I am Honored.
So I guess what I'm saying is that if you have a hobby and can find a way to spin it into a useful skill to a volunteer organization, or an organization that accepts volunteers - you should definitely scout that group out, see if they have good vibes, and then go introduce yourself. You never know how it'll pay off and what doors it will open for you. ♥️