On Volunteering

In my last blog, I touched on volunteering, something that has many positive results. A 2013 study found that people over 50 who volunteer at least 200 hours a year have greater psychological well-being, are more physically active and not as likely to develop hypertension as people who do not volunteer. And, volunteering certainly puts one’s own problems into perspective.

          If you are considering volunteering but don’t know where to start, here are a few pointers. It would be difficult to imagine how some organizations or groups could function without volunteers. And mature people are ideally suited to enhance their community’s quality of life through volunteering by putting a lifetime of skills and experience to good use.

          Often volunteers get involved with a specific group or organization because they have lost a loved one to a devastating illness. However, if you are uncertain on how you could volunteer in your community, begin by assessing your interests and experience. Most of us have accumulated so many skills that it might be difficult in fact to focus on one in particular, so sit down and make a list.

          If you “only” raised a family, you have organizational, teaching, money management and people skills that a wide range of organizations could use. If you love working with your hands, you could offer your services to do repairs and maintenance at shelters or food banks. If you drive a car, you can deliver Meals on Wheels to homebound people. If you are a grandparent, look into getting involved in your community’s intergenerational programs to guide a young child who doesn’t have grandparents. If you can read, an elderly person with poor eyesight would welcome being read to. If you have a telephone, you can become a lifeline for a lonely, forgotten elderly person by keeping in touch on a daily basis. The list is almost endless.

          If you love to clown around, why not don a clown suit and visit a local hospital so ill children can laugh, or visit a veterans facility to share stories and play games. If you write well, consider giving your time to writing an organization’s newsletter or other materials. Youth groups of all sorts could use the expertise of teachers.

GETTING STARTED

Once you have determined how you would like to volunteer, here are some pointers:

-- If you have a specific organization in mind, contact the chapter in your community and speak with the manager of volunteers. Most charities have websites which provide volunteering information and opportunities.

-- Contact your local volunteer bureau to collect information about the volunteer needs of organizations and to identify the agencies that could benefit from your support.

-- Check the local media. Community newspapers regularly list volunteer needs in the area.

-- Talk to friends and relatives who already volunteer as they can provide information.

THE NEXT STEP

Volunteering today involves more than simply coming forward and offering your time and skills. Organizations devote time to matching volunteers to positions to ensure a positive experience for everyone concerned.

          As a prospective volunteer, you can expect a process which will include:

An application   A formal application helps the organization determine how best to use your talents. 
An interview   This process is an opportunity for you the perspective volunteer to learn more about volunteer positions and their responsibilities.

A background check   To avoid problems down the road, organizations do background checks on perspective volunteers and do contact references.

Training   Organizations usually provide orientation and training to their volunteers to ensure they clearly understand their responsibilities as a volunteer.

          Volunteering is an act of generosity that should be fun. Once an organization and you have agreed on a specific activity, remember that if it isn’t what you expected you can ask to do something else. Happy volunteers contribute their time for years, something charitable organizations understand only too well. Simply explain the problem frankly and openly.

AND...

          The sense of fulfillment makes it all worthwhile. There is a feeling of satisfaction and pride at contributing to ease the burden of others, and you will be positively energized.

         

The Age of Loneliness

The world has known different ages, from the stone age to the iron age to the space age to the digital age and to today’s age of social networking. It seems that, in turn, the age of social networking has brought us to the age of social isolation which according to experts is killing us because it is as potent a cause of early death as heavy smoking and obesity

            While we can communicate with the world on our various screens, isolation which results in loneliness is rising sharply. Back in 1998 a survey found that increased Internet usage was coinciding with increased loneliness. Today, data points to the fact that loneliness is epidemic despite digital connections. The reason stems from the fact that digital connections do not create bonds and thus there is no emotional relationship. The more digitally connected we are, the lonelier we become.

            A 2010 AARP survey found that 35% of adults over 45 were chronically lonely compared to 20% a decade earlier. And that percentage is no doubt ever increasing especially among retired people who live alone and whose families are scattered.

            New technologies are luring us to superficial connections. As an example, in the not-too-distant past people had an interaction with the newspaper vendor every day. Today we read the news online by ourselves. We used to browse bookstores to find reading material and get advice and comments through interaction with the knowledgeable staff. Today, our books are on line and read on a screened device without our talking to anyone. We used to interact with sales clerk in stores, now we shop online without going outside. Even grocery shopping has changed. As we scan groceries by ourselves, robots read the codes, add the total and even give us change. All this without our having to say hello or exchange a few words with a clerk.

            And then there is social networking like Facebook which results in broader but shallower connections. It has become normal to broadcast what we are doing ever so often, but we are only screen sharing, not sharing with real friends. In fact it interferes with real friendships and distances us from each other.

            Because no one can cope alone, television becomes a consolation for many older people which leads to serious chronic conditions. Other data shows that there is a decrease of personal confidants people can turn to for discussing problems or ideas. Back in 2004, we saw that 25% of people had nobody to talk to. What is it today with the digital age getting ever wider?

            As we get older, it is important to reach out, find new interests and make new friends. That means we should expand our activities with things such as classes and discussion groups in order to meet new people and share feelings. Volunteering is a marvellous way to expand one’s social network while feeling good about reaching out to those who need it.

Being at Peace

Sharing some inspirational thoughts I have come across recently!

If you are depressed

You are living in the past

If you are anxious

You are living in the future

If you are at peace

You are living in the present

   Lao Tzu

What we think we become.   Buddha

Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are seeds. You can grow flowers or you grow weeds.

Inner peace begins the moment we choose not to allow another person or event to control our emotions.  

Worry takes away today’s peace for a problem that may never happen.   

Very little is needed to make a happy life.

And: I have chosen to be happy because it’s good for my health.  Voltaire

The Funny Side

Although I certainly do not feel like it at all times, I do make an effort to look at the funny side of life and to hang around with like-minded people. It brightens life.

            Nobody wants to be around people who are always complaining about something or the other, no matter their age—or perhaps especially when they’re on the downhill side of 50. The longer we live, the more problems we face, but that doesn’t mean that everything is bad. There’s always a bit of sunshine even in a cloudy cycle.

           A fun-loving woman I know tells her husband she keeps a spare man in the trunk of her car in case he goes flat.        

            Some people may see the cliché Laughter is the Best Medicine as being overused, but that does not make it less true. Medical research shows that laughter has an immediate positive effect on the main organs of the human body. It certainly relieves stress.

In my experience those who have mastered the art of laughing at life and its foibles have an easier time than people who focus all their energy on the less-than-perfect moments we all experience. One of the reasons is certainly that laughter relaxes the whole being. As Audrey Hepburn famously said: Laughing cures a multitude of ills.

            There’s nothing funny about getting older, a colleague told me a while back. My answer was that she was right but also very wrong. Sure, many of us could do without the pain of arthritis, for example, but that doesn’t mean that it should be the center of our lives. We live in an epoch which offers a plethora of remedies for a variety of health problems, something that was not available to our ancestors. It frees us to make the most of life and make it as pleasant as possible.

Accepting what is and making the best of it is not always easy. Some people constantly stand on their tippy toes to see over the fence in the neighbor’s yard to prove that the grass there is indeed greener, that other people can laugh while they can’t. I have always found it interesting that we are all inclined to compare ourselves to others, in one way or another. The neighbor is prettier, richer, happier, and so on, we think. What we tend to forget is that we are all different, and that appearances can be quite deceiving.

I believe that to be happy, we have to dwell on the good things in our lives at the present moment, and laugh at the rest. We may have arthritic knees, but it does not prevent us from enjoying our grandchildren. And we can all use humor to diffuse the irritations of life. People don’t stop laughing because they grow old, they grow old because they stop laughing. And besides, laughter is contagious.    

Share a joke with your spouse, your neighbor or your friend and the day is bound to be brighter.