People are living longer and longer these days. Studies have shown that over the past 100 years, our life expectancy has increased by 30 years! So what do we do with all this time? What should we do to say in shape and healthy? Why, volunteer any way you can! Volunteering has been proven to be an affect way to maintain an active lifestyle and continue social engagements among other benefits.
Linda Fried, a professor of public health at Columbia University Medical Center, says increased longevity raises the need to find engaging activities in our later years. She says there are overwhelming benefits for older adults who decide to volunteer their time for any good cause.
Two benefits of volunteering are that people stay physically active as well as socially active.
Linda says, "The social networks of people tend to decline as they age; family and friends move away or die. Volunteering can replace these ties and their well-being and happiness benefits.
"The other thing that is really important to people, particularly as they get older, is that they feel they've made a difference being on the planet," Fried says. "That's a deeply personal sense of meaning, particularly as people take stock of their lives as they get older."
I think we all like to know we've made a difference on this planet no matter what our age. But the more people embrace volunteering in their later years, the happier and healthier they'll be.
Which type of volunteer best describes you?
1. Communitarians - Doing Good Makes Sense
2. Devouts - Doing Good is God's Will
3. Investor - Doing Good is Good Business
4. Socialite - Giving is Fun
5. Repayers - Doing Good in return
6. Altruist - Doing Good Feels Right
7. Dynasts - Doing Good is a Family Tradition
To read more about why helping others is a secret of happiness, check out this link!
http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2012/04/04/why-helping-others-makes-us-happy?page=2
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