Volunteering

As much as I can remember I've been volunteering all my life, at least in the sense of working for no money compensation.  Of course being involved with a volunteer run church increases the opportunities for such volunteer work.

But volunteering in the sense of taking on duties and responsibilities that you could easily avoid is something that I haven't been very good at.  In fact there have been times when I think I was downright skilled in the art of avoiding such volunteering.  And that's not exactly something I'm proud of.  With retirement I've begun to turn that around and actually take on new responsibilities.  I find many of my peers doing the same and we seem to be the happiest retirees.

This week I discovered the extra influence that voluntarily offering to do something gives you.  I belong to two different Parkinson's support groups - a men's group and a geographically oriented group.  Because each group meets only once a month and somewhat different people attend each month, I'm having trouble getting to know people's names, let alone much about them.  So instead of just complaining or even just suggesting to each group leader, I volunteered to produce and maintain nameplates.  It turns out that both group leaders wanted to do that but found themselves too busy to keep up with the constant change in group membership.  They were both very grateful for my offer.  And I, in turn, will get to know everyone better and get to decide how the nameplates will look.  Also, although I'm a relatively new member of each group suddenly I'm a player, someone who will help the group leader when needed.  I recommend volunteering as a way to get better known.