SHARING YOUR TIME CAN BECOME YOUR FAVORITE EXERCISE VOLUNTEER TO KEEP YOUR BODY AND MIND ACTIVE
Staying active is increasingly vital to our health as we age. But pain, injury, or the lack of an exercise location can limit how we keep fit. But luckily, there is an easy way to have an active lifestyle without lifting weights or joining a gym: volunteer! Here are three reasons volunteering can be your new favorite exercise if you’re looking to flex some physical, mental, or social “muscle.” IT MOVES YOU. Volunteering offers different ways to move your body! Even small things like strolling through a park to pick up litter, navigating around a soup kitchen, or directing visitors at your local donation center keep you active. Most organizations are happy to modify more strenuous activities (like lifting heavy boxes or walking up a steep hill) to fit your abilities. So, even if you’re just beginning
an exercise habit, volunteering is a perfect initial step in your fitness journey.
more connected to others, and some of these people may even become friends when the job is complete. If you want to get active but don’t know of volunteer opportunities in your area, visit VolunteerMatch.org and enter your zip code to find local in-person options. Help yourself and others by making volunteer work your go-to exercise!
YOUR BRAIN EXPANDS. When you volunteer with others, you usually have a common goal, like feeding the community, cleaning up a park, or planting a garden. Joining others to accomplish a task provides a significant brain boost, and studies show camaraderie increases positive thoughts and feelings. On top of feeling better, volunteering keeps your mind agile. By working hard to solve a problem, you’re using more neural pathways, which helps keep mental decline at bay. YOU FORM CONNECTIONS. As we mentioned earlier, when you show up to volunteer, others usually attend for the same reason. Socializing with the group can help you feel less isolated and
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Then came the beehive of hallways behind the stage and the warren of dressing rooms. The costumes and headdresses bedazzled Sam. The sparkling sequence made her eyes twinkle. Sam was agog. At the end of our tour, Kogan asked Sam if she would like to do what ballerinas do on stage. She was speechless. Kogan said they needed little girls for the spring’s upcoming “Wizard of Oz” performance. “Would you like to be in the ‘Wizard of Oz’?” Kogan asked. Sam
has a drowsing effect on me. Sam and Bev cruelly mocked me when my head nodded up and down.
When the curtain finally went down, I texted Kogan that we would be out in the main foyer on the ground floor. Then school was out. Hundreds of noisy children were chattering away. It reminded me of my days running grade schools when the school bell rang to let the kids out. All the hours of artificially imposed quiet explode in a wild, raucous bedlam of running and yelling.
pounced like a rabid cat on a mouse. “Would you like to wear a costume?” I thought her head would come off her shoulders she nodded so hard. The tour ended, and Kogan excused herself because she needed to help pack everything up. The dance troupe was taking the show on the road the next day. Bev and I led a little Sam, who glided out of the theater, to dinner. She said very little as she ate her french fries and thought about the afternoon.
Kogan found us, and Samantha was transfixed. Kogan still wore her sparkling makeup and was attired in a vibrant green frock. Sam gazed on with pie eyes and enthusiastic nods as Kogan asked her questions and told her about key aspects of the performance.
My wife and I became invisible as Sam floated behind Kogan as she led us backstage. We all stepped behind the curtain and saw the mechanics of the stage: computers and cameras, wires and weights, stage scenes and lighting. The backstage is a stark contrast to the magical view from the audiences’ seats. We saw the Christmas cake prop, and Kogan opened the back and showed us how the ballerinas hid inside the cake.
I felt, for my part, a new spirit of Christmas I hadn’t felt in a long while. Children remind us of the wonder we all once felt around the Christmas season — the colors, the symbols, the mystery, and the grandeur. Sam and her sweet little voice was my Mary Lou Who that enlarged my Grinch heart and reignited my Christmas spirit.
–Christopher J. Grimmond
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