You can always volunteer. These are the first words that you hear from well meaning friends when you retire. Many do and some don’t. You have certainly earned the right to take your time before jumping in with both feet. Some people are more interested in going to school, traveling the world, or starting up a new business and that is great too. If you are tired after years of car pooling, working, and being drafted into fun raising activities, it is certainly okay to take a break for awhile. The question about volunteering is often raised because many people feel lost after they retire. People who have come to define themselves by what they do, find it rather unsettling when they realize that they have nowhere to go and nothing to do.
You may feel that after being well paid for your services over the years that you don’t want to give hours of service away for free. It is a different mindset, but if and when you do decide to volunteer you will very likely enjoy it. In a volunteer position you can experiment and explore new interests, without making any lifetime commitments. The challenge is in finding the right position. If you want to do something worthwhile you will need to do a little research first. You don’t want to get stuck doing busy work in a dead-end position, but perhaps being too proficient is counterproductive too. I read several articles about people who volunteered in their area of expertise and found that they were not as welcomed as they thought they would be. It seemed they were viewed by some to be doing work that should have been assigned to paid staff. This could be a fine line that needs to be explored before agreeing to fill a particular role. For example: If you sign on to be a reading tutor you probably shouldn’t be used to fill in as a teaching assistant.
Bernice Bratter (Project Renewment) suggests that you look to yourself first. Identify what inspires you. Make a list of your strengths and try to match them with volunteer work that interests you. Now is the time to find something that really turns you on. You may want to get involved with a political forum, become a cook at a shelter, mentor a child, teach reading to an adult, or even build houses. Start at the bottom and work your way into a program rather than coming in as an executive assistant or a board member. Remember that you are retired, and you don’t really want to take on the responsibilities of being a boss again, do you?
Know when to make a change. Protect your time. Time is precious, even more so now that you are older. Determine ahead of time how much time you want to contribute and start on the low side. Look for something that has a good training program. You don’t want to be just another warm body filling up time and taking up space. However, when all is said and done volunteering plays an important role in the community. I would love to hear about satisfying volunteer programs that you have enjoyed?
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