Volunteering, as the Cambridge Dictionary defines, is to “offer to do something that you do not have to do, often without having been asked to do it and/or without expecting payment”. My definition is a little less formal, as I think volunteering is when you help someone without expecting anything in return! This can be through helping out at specific places such as hospitals, homeless shelters, and animal shelters, or using your unique skills to bring joy to others! For example, I like writing and designing things, so I like making digital cards for elderly people!
I think it’s funny because even though you expect nothing in return from volunteering, you actually gain so much! No you don’t gain money or fame, but your brain can actually be benefitted through this. Many scientific studies across the world have proven the fact that volunteering is actually good for your mental health. So even though the heart of volunteering is to not “expect” anything, you can actually benefit yourself (along with the people you’re helping) in the process!
So in this blog post, I’m going to be talking about how volunteering actually benefits not only your mental health, but also many life skills that you can apply into practically any situation! Now I’m not convening you to volunteer 1000000 hours of your life, but I’m just saying that there may actually be some hidden benefits of it that may compel you into giving it a try if you haven’t already!
The strength to combat stress, anger, and anxiety.
For the majority of the time, volunteering tends to be a social activity. You usually get to talk with a variety of people and work with them during a variety of circumstances. Like other social activities, volunteering can have an awesome effect on your psychological well-being. When you talk with someone, most of the time you can create a meaningful connection with them. Sure most of the time it’s not a lifelong friendship, but it’s just a heartfelt connection for the duration of the experience. This meaningful connection often relieves stress, anger, and anxiety as you tend to take your mind off the things that are bothering you. There’s also a sciency-y aspect behind the calmness that comes from volunteering. There is a chemical in your brain, called dopamine, that is released making you feel more satisfied and happy. When you feel even just a little bit more calm, satisfied with yourself, and happy, you can gain the strength to fight the negative feelings even just a little bit.
A quick boost of self-esteem and gratitude.
When you’re volunteering, you are basically contributing to something bigger than yourself. You are putting your time and effort into something not because you have to, but because you want to. This one fact helps boost your self esteem. It proves to yourself that you’re in such a healthy mental position that you don’t have to fight for your mental peace and happiness, and that you can contribute to the uplifting of someone else’s feelings. When you do something meaningful to you, and maybe even see some impact first hand (such as if you’re serving food and see the little but thankful smile on someone’s face), you feel so good about yourself. Trust me, when you volunteer, you’ll gain not only just self-esteem and confidence, but also a lot of gratitude for your own life. You realize that you’re actually pretty lucky and even in such a stable and comfortable position that you can help someone else. I think it’s like a chemical reaction. You start off volunteering, which creates gratitude. Then, when you experience gratitude, your self-esteem will increase. Ultimately, along with fighting away the bad emotions like I talked about in the previous paragraph, you also help better your current self in the process!!
Gives you a sense of (temporary) purpose
There is a super well-known question that circulates around the globe and jumps into conversations at the most random times. That question is, “what is the purpose of life”? I tend to think about this in both my happiest moments and my saddest moments. Picture this. You’re vacationing on a beach and you’re sitting on the sand with the crisp ocean breath flowing through your hair. The sun is setting, painting a beautiful picture in the sky and you see the regal, blue ocean waves crashing and rolling. At that moment, you may think the purpose of life is to make as many memories as possible and see the beauty in life. Or on the other side, you didn’t get into your dream university even though you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into your high school career. At that moment you would think that life sucks and you’ll probably just want to cry in bed for a couple of days. Ok I know I’m getting off track but I’m sure that this all ties into volunteering. Many of us don’t know the purpose of our life. Sure it may be tied into career or personal aspirations, but we never actually know. We are stuck on the idea of “What if”. I know that volunteering isn’t necessarily everyone’s eternal life purpose, but if you’re feeling lost, I think that volunteering can give you at least a temporary sense of purpose. Even if it’s just for a couple of hours, your purpose is to make someone else’s day better. That feeling can mean so much, trust me. So even though we don’t know our life’s purpose, whenever we are feeling a little overwhelmed and lost, sometimes having a temporary purpose can be all the better!!
Side note: I said that you could try volunteering when you’re overwhelmed, but I don’t mean that you should somehow make time to volunteer when you have a million tests and sports games coming up. I meant that maybe when you feel lost and you want a little mental boost :))
Improves your practical life skills and social skills
You will not believe how many life skills I’ve gained from volunteering, and how much my social skills have improved. In terms of social skills, I’ve gotten the chance to talk with people of all ages. I’ve talked with kids when painting their faces during an Easter egg hunt festival and elderly people when I’m doing art with them at an old-age home. It’s insane how much perspective you can gain from life when talking to groups of people you usually don’t talk with. I get so much advice about life when I’m at the old-age home, that you can’t really get anywhere else unless you’ve seen it all. At the same time, it’s so refreshing to hear children laugh and see them play, as the negativity of the world hasn’t infected them yet. It’s crazy to think how I used to be a shy kid, but now, after volunteering I’ve learned to speak up and I honestly love not being so terrified of speaking all the time. Sure I get nervous a lot, but my public speaking has definitely improved thanks to volunteering. Along with social skills, you also get a lot of practical life skills. Such as preparing and serving a quick meal. Through other examples like these, you eventually gain problem-solving skills and time-management skills, which I think is super applicable to any other parts of your life. Overall, I think that along with the numerous benefits that contribute to your mental peace that I talked about in the earlier paragraphs, you also get other benefits that can benefit your life in the future!!
I’ve said a bunch of different things in this post, but if you want a quick summary here you go!!
Volunteering has a bunch of mental benefits such as:
- Reducing stress and anxiety
- Increasing self-esteem and gratitude
- Giving you a temporary sense of purpose
- Improving your practical life skills and social skills
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for a bunch more volunteering related blog posts! This August, YAA is going to be placing a deep emphasis on volunteering for this August!!!! :))
Sources:
https://www.goabroad.com/articles/volunteer-abroad/skills-you-gain-from-volunteering
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/volunteering