Can you imagine a life with complete joy from the moment you wake, to the kinds of work you do, to the deep affection and love both to and from your family, and an endless amount of abundance in time freedom and finances? It almost sounds like a fantasy. You deserve this and it is possible to create this kind of life. The way to get to this kind of life is through consistent and persistent giving of your gifts, talent, skills to others; without asking for anything in return.
I know what you’re thinking. 🤔 How in the heck can I have a bigger bank account if I’m volunteering? Or maybe you’re thinking how can volunteering improve my relationships with my family? Or maybe you’re thinking how can volunteering help me get the kind of work I dream of doing and be paid well?
All of these questions will be answered through stories of my own experiences, family examples of volunteering, and positive psychology research that demonstrates improved quality of life through kind acts (i.e. volunteering) below. If you’re loving what you’re reading, I’d so appreciate a share, leave a comment, and follow me on all social media channels ❤️
(Both my mom and dad volunteered a lot in my memories growing up. This is my dad and me before heading to church a few years ago. I think I was visiting from grad school for a quick pop in).
Fun Reason 1: Volunteering Can Reduce Your Stress!
How so? ⠀
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Well, you’re getting your mind off your stress. ⠀
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Have you ever gotten a paper cut before and it really stung, then someone asked you a question you needed to focus on and the paper cut sting disappeared? Its a similar idea. You focus on helping another person, and it can dramatically reduce your stress if done consistently over time. Check out this cool article from the Mayo Clinic for more info on the benefits of volunteering on your health.⠀
(My dear friend from high school choir, Amanda singing the Canadian and American National Anthem for the CAN/AM hockey game and the Raptors/Thunder NBA Game a few years ago, big things can happen when you choose to volunteer. Although she did get a free ticket to the game too so maybe its not full volunteer 😂. I Do know for a fact singing reduced both of our stresses so there you have it!)
Fun Reason 2: Volunteering Increases Your Network which also can increase your net worth 💵 💵 bills y’all 😆
I’ve been volunteering with BBBS for about 4 years now. There is a networking opportunity between us “Bigs” to socialize. Even though I’ve moved across the country, I’m still actively connected to my lil Sis and the other Bigs I’ve met through the program. One of them has helped connect me to gym owners all around the country for my Move Happy® Movement!
I’m SO blessed! ⠀
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I’d love to hear how you’re volunteering or how you want to & who you’d like to connect with. Comment below⬇️! ⠀
(My lil Sis Jhoana inside Oregon State University’s newer auditorium- taking the mic like a boss! My graduate school advisor Dr. Vicki Ebbeck gave us a personal tour on a Saturday mind you, treated us to lunch and bought her some OSU Swag, needless to say she wants to be a Beaver when she’s old enough 🤣)
Fun Reason 3: Families Who Volunteer Together, Grow Closer Together
What’s your earliest memory of volunteering in your family? ⠀
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Mine was around 7yrs old. I was staying at grandma Rice’s for the weekend (my dad’s mom). We went to the Bartell Drug Store after church and she set up her fold up table and put her blood pressure machine on the table. ⠀
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Grandma Rice was giving free BP checks for customers. She was a retired nurse. ⠀
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I said, “grandma are they paying you?” ⠀
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Grandma said, “no I’m volunteering.” ⠀
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“Oh! What’s volunteering?” ⠀
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She said, “I am helping keep the people in Gig Harbor, Washington healthy. You don’t have to get paid to know you’re doing something good.” ⠀
⠀(My grandma Joyce Rice, 1949 graduating from Virginia Mason School of Nursing)
This memory has stuck with me and is a value I hold dear. Volunteer on a regular basis either your time or your money. Anytime I stayed the weekend at grandmas she’d either volunteer at the drug store, lead a Sunday school group, or I’d also remember seeing her write a check to donate her tithe to help keep the church providing support to her community.
When she passed away she had an inheritance for all of us 13 grandchildren. We each got around $20,000. I saved most of mine to pay for a vehicle to get me to college, and an Africa trip that I was supposed to go on to teach AIDS awareness and health education while an undergrad at Pacific Lutheran University. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled because of a war in the neighboring country.
The rest of the inheritance I knew she’d want us to give back to our community. So I gave the remaining amount (I think $2000) to the Rainier View Church that’s property was right on the back side of PLU next to Washington High School. I had attended their 18-20 somethings group and they helped keep my mind and spirit healthy while being a broke college student 🤣.
I remember when I received a tax statement in the mail the following year, they said “To the parents of Erin Rice” (my maiden name). I had to call them and let them know that it was actually a donation from me. They figured a young woman wouldn’t have had the means to donate that much, but after explaining where the money came from, they were very grateful I chose to give to their church. I was grateful for the friendships I had built through the small group (some of my life long friends, like Jason pictured below) I met through this church.
(Me visiting Jason in his Montana home! He has helped me in SO many personal struggles with the kinds of men I have dated, fun tour guide on any hike ever, and always up for fun adventures. He and his partner Serge are finally tying the knot next year! They met shortly after I met him in 2005 💜. He is very much like a second brother to me)
Fun Reason 4: Volunteering Can Teach You Incredible Skills That Will Blow Your Mind!
A couple years ago at the psych hospital, I was selected to organize a Happy Wall for the International Day of Happiness from HappyActs.Org. It was the first time it was ever run in any psychiatric hospital in the 🌍, and its a super rad way to contribute to your local community. Check it out! ⠀
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I had never organized such a big event before. I also had only been working at the hospital for maybe 4 months at this point. We had fun stations for the patients and staff, we invited all staff in every hall to come visit. Everyone signed intentional acts of kindness cards and the Live Happy company donated to our local Big Brothers and Big Sisters chapter. ⠀
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The patients LOVED this because a few of them told me, their children were a part of this great mentorship organization. Check it out here: bbbs.org.
The staff loved it and I remember our custodian thought we were donating money ourselves and gave me about $20 in coins she had been saving up. I explained to her she didn’t have to pay anything but she insisted so I gave the money to the BBBS Tacoma Chapter.⠀
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Stepping up to this new volunteering role helped me realize I can get things done and lead a team of adults to really make a positive impact on our community and 🌎. It taught me that people love helping, volunteering and making an impact, but sometimes they need to be led by someone to initiate things. I am that someone.
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We even had live 🎶 (my mom and aunt came and sang songs for the event!) It was a team effort, and I organized it and delegated responsibilities. ⠀
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Super fun! I can’t wait to run one again in Nashville next year! ⠀
(This was taken by the PR at the hospital, they should have done a group photo of all the volunteers, but you can see the names listed above my pic 😊)
Fun Reason 5: Volunteering Can Open Up Promotion Opportunities Even When You’re Told You Don’t Have The Credentials
A few years ago I was working in a psychiatric hospital where Move Happy® was first born. I was hired to work in the treatment mall for patients that were long term stay 180 days or longer (some 30+ years). My responsibility was to go-facilitate group therapy in a variety of settings. The terms were 16 weeks and I had started my role in the middle of the fall term. I shadowed for a few weeks almost like student teaching. I got to see the classes that were being offered and the various skill sets of my colleagues. I noticed a hole in the way fitness was being taught…
Mind you I do not judge others as lesser or better than me. I believe experience, good work ethic and attitude are within all of us. Some of us have more experience than others and therefore can create more interest in a class from allowing our passions to come forth. So that being said, a couple of my colleagues taught a walking/yoga course and played 2 DVDs every other day for 16 weeks….
I don’t know about you, but I don’t live in a psych hospital and I know for a fact I would be bored after 1 week of the same yoga routine and the same walking video to workout to. So, I looked into the budget allocation. We as a treatment mall had $100 a month to split between about 15 of us. So no fitness equipment other than a dumbbell. Purchasing equipment was out of the question. No problem …
As a former K-12 health and fitness teacher, I was used to creating my curriculum because there were no budgets for PE teachers either and lesson plans were kind of required by law 😂. So I decided to create my own curriculum combining positive psychology, journaling group discussion and workouts with minimal equipment. No one had ever done anything like this before that I could find online so I decided to make sure I was journaling the process so I could help someone else if the time came to share it with others (assuming it went over well with the patients).
Not only did I create this fun 16-week course, I also offered to help out anytime I had a free minute. I was going above and beyond my job requirements because it was a great distraction from grieving the recent loss of my father. It also is my personality to do the best I can regardless of the pay. It makes me feel fulfilled. ⠀
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Some of my colleagues started taking notice and also found out I had a MS and was getting paid for a BA/BS job role. A few of them started telling me to apply for a Psych Associate position within the hospital and get paid about $1,000 more a month. ⠀
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I loved my team and had a heart to heart with my boss Sue. I told her I had to drive for Uber/Lyft outside of work hours and I was barely covering my bills (side note, my rent was $1300 in south Seattle which was 75% of my paycheck, not even counting my private student loans from my undergrad). ⠀
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Sue was super kind and also wanted to give it to me straight since she’d been working at the hospital 30 ish years. ⠀
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She said to me one day, “Erin you might need to apply elsewhere for the PA role because that department here really likes to hire licensed therapists with 1:1 experience. I don’t want to deter you, but I’ve been around for a while and that is generally what happens. No matter what though, we love your attitude here and I support you 100%.” ⠀
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So I took her advice with a grain of salt and started planning how I could add value since I am not a licensed therapist. So I kept at it and knew I needed to get more 1:1 experience within the hospital setting. Something within me told me my place was there at the hospital and I wouldn’t want to leave. I did have one interview at the penitentiary out on an island in Washington, but I didn’t get a second interview, and it was fine I was a little intimidated to work on an island with criminals.⠀
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I looked daily for PA positions to open up on the Washington State job site. Then a few months later, an opening popped up. My co worker Mark told me about it and said, “Erin you should apply. You’d be perfect for it!”
17 professionals with a MS or PhD were interviewed for the position at the hospital. Even being chosen to interview would have made my day. I was selected to interview and had my colleague Sue M cover my Move Happy group….
I get to the building where the interviews are being held. I walk in and three people are present, the head of psychology for the entire South Hall (the hall I worked), a licensed mental health therapist, and a psychologist that works on one of the wards of South Hall (wards are where the patients live/sleep, like their home while they’re inpatient status). I walk in with my Move Happy Participant Journal© and my self published book Whole Life Affirmations.
I also was planning a wedding and the loss of this job opened the flood gates of fear, anger, violence and finally the end of my engagement (praise God I’m alive).
Had this not have happened, I would have still been at the hospital in my new promoted role. Everything happens for a reason and I believe this happened to open my eyes in my personal life, and also give me the courage to start my own curriculum/course business for practitioners.
Remember how I told you my colleague covered for my Move Happy group while I was interviewing? She also covered for me while when I was training for the new promotion. She grabbed my attention one day as I was walking back to my office.
“Erin” Sue M said, “I have to tell you, I just love your group. The patients know exactly what to do, ___________ volunteers to write the journal page number on the board so everyone is writing on the same prompt, _____________ passes out the journals to everyone, __________ selects music for the group workout time, and I really enjoy working out with the patients. I’ll sub for you any day.”
I knew my program was duplicatable at this point and it was a goal of mine to leave something that the staff could use as well as the patients, should they be discharged. I taught principles of workout design throughout the 16-week course so when they got bored with my 60+ workouts (its a given and natural to get bored with the same ol same ol), they’d have the skills to know how to design their own workouts with the confidence to modify should they need to, and have it be fun.
You can order my Move Happy Facilitator Program (MHFP) Today by going here. If you want to dive deeper in one-on-one coaching, I have 2 spots available starting May 1. It is 4 months, weekly video calls where we dive deeper into the 16 weeks of MHFP content, you have access to 6-weeks of at your own pace video/worksheets/ fun quizzes, lifetime access to The Move Happy® Professional Community, Move Happy Coaching Certification (upon completion of the program), Continuing Education Credits (optional for a small additional fee), and several bonuses (including Move Happy® Swag).
I am celebrating my new logo and soon to be announcing my new domain in the next few days! Ask me about the new branding special before ordering any Move Happy® products for the remaining days in April!
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So there you have it folks! Volunteering can and does improve your physical health, mental health, spiritual health, financial well-being, and your relationships. It can improve your romance at home or help open your eyes to unhealthy relationships that you should cut immediately. Volunteering gives you a sense of purpose when our world can be pretty negative. Volunteering can open up work opportunities you never thought were possible. I’m a HUGE proponent of volunteering for the good of others and also to make yourself feel good. If you fill your tank, you’re able to do so much more for others.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my weekly blog! Stay tuned for next week as we dive into kindness. I’m so excited! I post daily on Instagram, Facebook, Snap, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you’re on any of those platforms, make sure to connect with me and tell me where you’re from! I love meeting new people.
Up and coming news: Podcast is almost ready to launch! Working on some finishing touches to my close-out jingle. Hoping to have it launch on Sunday evenings to start your week off with a positive interview from leaders in mindset, community building and fitness. I’d love to know where you listen to podcasts most so I can decide which distribution channel is best (it costs about $200/mo for some and $200/yr for others so your input is helping my business expenses 😆).
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today…
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