Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits
Why do you need to volunteer?
With busy lives, it can be difficult to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering can be enormous. Volunteering offers valuable assistance to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. The right match can help you find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and advance your career.
Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health. It can reduce stress, fight depression, keep your mind stimulated, and provide a sense of purpose. While it's true that the more you volunteer, the more benefits you'll experience, volunteering doesn't have to involve a long-term commitment or take a lot of time out of your busy day. Giving in even the simplest way can help those in need and improve your health and happiness.
Benefits of volunteering:
Volunteering connects you to others.
Volunteering is good for your mind and body.
Volunteering can advance your career.
Volunteering brings fun and fulfillment to your life.
Benefit 1: Volunteering connects you to others
One of the more well-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place. Even helping out with the smallest tasks can make a real difference in the lives of people, animals, and organizations in need. Volunteering is a two-way street: It can benefit you and your family as much as the cause you choose to help. Dedicating your time as a volunteer helps you make new friends, expand your network, and boost your social skills.
- Make new friends and contacts
- One of the more well-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make it a better place. Even helping with the smallest tasks can make a real difference in the lives of people, animals, and organizations in need. Volunteering is a two-way street: It can benefit you and your family as much as the cause you choose to help. Giving your time as a volunteer helps you make new friends, expand your network, and strengthen your social skills.
2. Increase your social and relationship skills
- While some people are naturally friendly, others are shy and have difficulty meeting new people. Volunteering allows you to practice and develop your social skills because you regularly meet a group of people with common interests. Once you have momentum, branching out and making more friends and contacts is easier.
3. Volunteering as a family
- Children watch everything you do. By giving back to the community, you'll show them firsthand how volunteering makes a difference and how good it feels to help other people and animals and make a difference. It's also an important way for you to meet community organizations and find resources and activities for your children and family.
Benefit 2: Volunteering is good for your mind and body
Volunteering provides many benefits to both mental and physical health.
Volunteering helps counteract the effects of stress, anger, and anxiety. The social contact aspect of helping and working with others can have a profound effect on your overall psychological well-being. Nothing relieves stress better than a meaningful connection to another person. Working with pets and other animals has also been shown to improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety.
Volunteering combats depression. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against depression.
Volunteering makes you happy. By measuring hormones and brain activity, researchers have discovered that being helpful to others delivers immense pleasure. Human beings are hard-wired to give to others. The more we give, the happier we feel.
Volunteering increases self-confidence. You are doing good for others and the community, which provides a natural sense of accomplishment. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity. And the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals.
Volunteering provides a sense of purpose. Older adults, especially those who have retired or lost a spouse, can find new meaning and direction in their lives by helping others. Whatever your age or life situation, volunteering can help take your mind off your own worries, keep you mentally stimulated, and add more zest to your life.
Volunteering helps you stay physically healthy. Studies have found that those who volunteer have a lower mortality rate than those who do not. Older volunteers tend to walk more, find it easier to cope with everyday tasks, are less likely to develop high blood pressure, and have better thinking skills. Volunteering can also lessen symptoms of chronic pain and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Benefit 3: Volunteering can advance your career
If you're considering a new career, volunteering can help you gain experience in your area of interest and meet people in the field. Even if you're not planning on changing careers, volunteering allows you to practice important skills used in the workplace, such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, project planning, task management, and organization. You may feel more comfortable spreading your wings at work when you first hone these skills in a volunteer position.
Teaching you valuable job skills
Just because volunteer work is unpaid doesn't mean the skills you learn are basic. Many volunteer opportunities provide extensive training. For example, you can become an expert crisis counselor while volunteering for a women's shelter or a knowledgeable art historian while donating your time as a museum docent.
Volunteering can also help you build on the skills you already have and use them to benefit the larger community. For example, if you hold a successful sales position, you can raise awareness for your favorite cause as a volunteer advocate, while further developing and improving your public speaking, communication, and marketing skills.
Gaining career experience
Volunteering offers you the opportunity to try a new career without making a long-term commitment. It is also a great way to gain experience in a new field. In some fields, you can volunteer directly with an organization that does the type of work that interests you. For example, if you are interested in nursing, you can volunteer at a hospital or a nursing home.
Your volunteer work can also expose you to professional organizations or internships that can benefit your career.
When it comes to volunteering, all you need is passion and positivity
While learning new skills can be beneficial to many, it is not necessary for an enjoyable volunteering experience. Remember that the most important assets you can bring to any volunteer endeavor are compassion, an open mind, a willingness to step up when needed, and a positive attitude.
Benefit 4: Volunteering brings fun and fulfillment to your life
Volunteering is a fun and easy way to explore your interests and passions. Doing volunteer work that you find meaningful and interesting can be a relaxing, invigorating escape from your daily routine of work, school, or family commitments. Volunteering also gives you renewed creativity, motivation, and perspective that you can carry into your personal and professional life.
Many people volunteer time for hobbies outside of work. For example, if you have a desk job and spend a lot of time outside, you might consider volunteering to help plant a community garden, walk dogs for an animal shelter, help out for a spay/ neuter program, or volunteer for event adoptions, helping children how to read and write, and other branches of the volunteer program can be involved.
If you want to volunteer please check out the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/bfhawa/
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