As we become busy with our lives we tend to become cocooned in our own little world. We do not go out and meet people and are confined to our small set of social circle. We all need to go out and connect with people and the best way to that is to volunteer to do some kind of service for the community. Some people will not realize, but the effect volunteering can have on the physical and mental health is abundant. We can volunteer individually or with our family, both will prove to be highly beneficial in reaching out to the community, making new friends, learning new skills and even finding new career avenues.
Benefits :
VOLUNTEERING KEEPS US CONNECTED
The best way to connect with people is helping them. No one ever forgets a helping hand. When we volunteer for even the smallest of tasks we make a difference in someone’s life. It will help us make new friends. If we have moved to a new area volunteering is the best way to connect with people. It will help us build a strong support system around us which will help us in return. The best part is that we get to hang out with people who have the same interests and hobbies as we do. If we are shy and introvert, this is the best way to make friends. We have common ground on which to start our friendship and it will benefit us in developing your social skills. It is even better when we volunteer as a family. Children always look up to their parents and learn more by watching. It is the best way to teach them to stay connected with the community. The children also learn how important it is to help others and how much joy it can bring in their lives.
VOLUNTEERING MAKES US PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY STRONGER
We may achieve a lot of success in our career, but we will get a sense of being complete when we help others. Volunteering will raise our self esteem, gives us confidence and provides better satisfaction in life. When we volunteer to help someone we gain a positive outlook on life and have a sense of pride. We also have a strong sense of identity and belonging with the community we choose to help. It gives us a sense of purpose and keeps us away from our own tensions and problems. It will keep our brain stimulated and add excitement to our life. In the present scenario we have become more isolated and that has added to the levels of stress in our lives. Volunteering is beneficial for our mental health and keeps depression at bay. It provides us with a set of friends we can talk to. Working with animals has shown to bust anxiety and stress. Not just emotionally, volunteering helps us physically. It also reduces our symptoms of pain and heart disease if we volunteer for physical activities like in environmental projects, beaches or parks.
VOLUNTEERING CAN HELP US WITH OUR CAREER
If we are planning to change our job, then volunteering can help you find people who have interests in the same area. Even if we are planning to stay in our job, volunteering can help you by providing us a neutral area to hone our skills. We will learn more about problem solving, organization, communication, planning and teamwork. We can also gain experience in an altogether new field before we quit our job. We can gain on job experience by volunteering for the organization we hope to work for. Volunteering also give us an opportunity to hone our skills. It is not correct to think that if we are volunteering we will be doing mundane jobs. There are various programs that requires us to train extensively for the job we may have volunteered to do. Volunteering, besides teaching us so many skills also make us more compassionate and helps us develop a positive outlook in life.