The Many Benefits of Volunteering
When it comes to being a man in balance, volunteering is one of the most important things you can do. It can help improve your physical, mental and emotional health, and that's not to mention the impact it can have on your community.
There are plenty of reasons to volunteer, but here are just a few:
It can help you live longer. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that men who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 44% lower risk of dying over a five-year period than those who didn't volunteer at all.
It can make you happier. According to a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, people who volunteer report higher levels of happiness than those who don't.
It can help reduce stress. A study published in Psychosomatic Medicine found that people who volunteered had lower levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) than those who didn't.
It can improve your mental health. A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that people who volunteered had lower rates of depression than those who didn't.
And of course, that's before getting into the massive impact it can have on your community. Why is it important to volunteer for a nonprofit? The simple answer is because it helps make the world a better place.
Nonprofits provide vital services to those in need, and they often rely on volunteers to help them do it. By volunteering for a nonprofit, you can help make a difference in the lives of others and in your community as a whole. The majority of nonprofit organizations often don't have the support they need, and are already relying on a shoestring budget just to pay their core staff.
Therefore, volunteers are often the heart and soul of a nonprofit. They provide the extra support that is so vital to nonprofits being able to function and provide their services. Volunteers can do everything from stuff envelopes to work on a fundraising campaign to sit on a board of directors.
Types of volunteering include:
Tutoring or teaching disadvantaged children
Working with the elderly in nursing homes
Collecting donations for the needy
Building houses for the homeless
Protecting the environment
Helping out at a homeless shelter
Serving dinner at a soup kitchen
The list goes on and on. No matter what your interests or skills are, there's a volunteer opportunity out there for you. What's important is to find a volunteer opportunity that you actually enjoy. If you don't like dogs, then volunteering at the local humane society might not be the best fit for you. But if you love to cook, then volunteering at a soup kitchen might be perfect.
The bottom line is that volunteering is important not only for the impact it has on a community, but also for your own personal and spiritual growth. It can improve your physical and mental health, and it can make a difference in your community.
If you don't know where to begin, identify one opportunity...and try it out. That's it. Just give it a try, and pay attention to how you feel once you start to see the impact it's having.
