Saving lives?

Today 1 Feb, I donated blood. I had been wanting to do it for a long time, but just did not find the time to do so. It is one of those fears that everyone has. Not everyone looks forward to have a needle prick into you to give blood. One main reason people normally give for not giving blood is plain laziness - "someone else will donate". But there are virtually no good excuses for not giving blood - unless you have a major disease, you can donate blood.

As the Chinese New Year is around the corner, I felt a sudden urge to go just do it. And God, it felt so good after that and it turned out to be painless. While I was lying on the chair at the center, an elderly man in his 60s walked in and cheerfully claimed: "This is my first time here!". However, immediately, the warm reception of the nurses and camaraderie between them and the elderly man made it apparent that they knew each other pretty well. A nurse commented: "Yes! 90 times here, every time is the first time!" I was speechless. This elderly man has been donating blood for the past 20 years! It made me even more resolute to do my part. If he can do it with such cheerfulness, how can the thought of laziness even existed in my mind?

Donating blood is of course, besides saving lives, a great way of creating merits for ourselves. The needle will pinch for a moment - but with one donation of blood, you can save up to three lives. It is a minor act that will help others. We never know when we could be the one in need of another person's blood donation. Someday, we might need blood, and we have to get it from someone else. Hence, it is always nice to have some good karma stored up, just in case.

I plan to do it as often as I can (the Blood Bank's guideline is once every 3 months and not less). Kick me if I don't.