Aging ain't for Sissies
Aging isn't easy. My name is Marcy Backhus and I am your host! Make sure your complete well-being is handled with a community and information that can make it easier and FUN. Aging needs humor, which you can find in the "Aging ain't for Sissies" Podcast, along with informational guests that give us the information we need.
Aging ain't for Sissies
The Unexpected Health Benefits of Giving Back: How Two Hours a Week Can Transform Your Life
Ready to add years to your life while having fun? This episode delivers the surprising science behind volunteering as a health intervention. Forget expensive supplements—research shows that dedicating just two hours weekly to volunteering lowers blood pressure, fights depression, and literally extends your lifespan. This isn't wishful thinking; it's science.
Discovering fulfilling volunteer opportunities doesn't mean wearing a hairnet at a soup kitchen (unless that's your thing). We explore dozens of ways to match your unique skills and interests with meaningful service. Love animals? Local shelters need you. Enjoy reading? Kids need literacy volunteers. Tech-savvy? Nonprofits desperately need your digital wisdom. From AARP's Create the Good platform to community gardens, food banks, and faith-based organizations, we break down where to start and how to find the perfect fit.
Volunteering provides what many seniors secretly crave: purpose without pressure, socialization without awkward small talk, and a chance to share wisdom accumulated over decades. Unlike the workplace where age discrimination lurks, volunteer settings value senior participants for exactly who they are. The benefits flow both ways—organizations receive invaluable help while volunteers enjoy improved cognitive function, expanded social networks, and that irreplaceable feeling of making a difference. Whether you're recently retired or well into your golden years, I challenge you to start with just one small commitment. Your future healthier, happier self will thank you. Ready to transform your life while transforming others? Let's begin.
Hello and welcome to Aging Aimed for Sissies. My name is Marci Backus and I am your host. Well, hello there, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Aging Aimed for Sissies, the podcast where we tell Father Time, just to take a seat and shut up. I'm Marci, your sassy guide to all things boldly, and today we're talking about something that might just be the secret sauce to living longer, feeling better and wait for it having fun. What do you think it could be? Well, today we're going to talk about volunteering. Now, before you roll your eyes and think I'm about to guilt trip you into handing out soup and a hairnet, hold on, this isn't your grandma's volunteer pitch, unless your grandma was a total rock star, and in that case let's channel her energy. So today we are going to be talking about volunteering. Right now. I just want to catch you up on me doing great, moving forward. I'm just going to assume I'm cancer-free for the time. You know they never tell you that, really and living my life.
Speaker 1:It's been a great summer here in Chicago. I just had a friend, annette, come visit for four days and we were here, there and everywhere, and ate everything we could possibly eat. I'll tell you when you live in a city that is a food city and people come to visit. It is one meal after another, but we did so much walking. It didn't seem to have any effect on my weight, which makes me happy. We had a couple of good storms yesterday. We have had a little bit of rain today, craig and I are going to Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
Speaker 1:It's an outdoor theater or concert venue, and you know what's really cool about it? Only like the first 20 rows in this concert venue outdoor concert venue do you have to pay for. After that, all of the seats are first come, first serve, and there's a ton of seats, and then they also have a lawn. So if you want to do like you know the picnic thing, they have that as well. It's a really great thing that the city of Chicago does. They do try to make things very accessible for everyone. Our pools in the summer are free. Our ice skating rinks in the winter are free. We have free days at all of our museums. They do really try to make this fabulous city accessible for all, and it was something that my friend pointed out to me as I was saying things, and I thought she's right. What a great thing that this city does, and if you've never been to Chicago, it is an absolute stunner. It's a great city, lots of fun things to do. You can do a lot of things or you can do nothing and just sit at the beach all day. So if you haven't been to Chicago, I highly suggest visiting. It is an extremely fun and beautiful city. So that was fun, having someone come visit.
Speaker 1:And now back to you know how you have to kind of get back to life and that type of thing. Having trouble with my stupid it's not stupid. Sorry, dishwasher, my dishwasher. They came out, put a whole bunch of new parts in it. It's only a year and a half old and now they're figuring out it's an electrical problem. So, nonetheless, when you're just two, dishes are not too hard. So we've been doing dishes for a couple weeks. Looks like we're going to be doing dishes for a little while longer.
Speaker 1:Well, I leave you with that and I hope that your summer is going fabulous. I hope you have good weather where you are here. It's not been too bad. We had a couple of super hot days when my girlfriend was here, but today today we're back to our normal temperatures. A little bit of rain. I can use it. I need to rest, so sit back, grab yourself something to drink, relax.
Speaker 1:If you're driving, keep your eyes on the road and we're going to get into the segment about volunteering and again, don't roll your eyes. I've got some good ideas for you. All righty, then why volunteering is the new superfood? Let's get this straight Volunteering isn't just about being nice, it's about staying alive. Seriously, research says people who volunteer 100 hours a year that's like two hours a week, about the time you spend looking for your glasses, which is true or your phone or your car keys People that volunteer 100 hours a year again, two hours a week live longer. That's not a feel-good quote, that's science. I want you just to think about that. A couple hours a week to live longer that mathin is mathin. Pretty good.
Speaker 1:For me, volunteering can also lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk of depression and even slow down aging. So in many other episodes we've talked about depression and as we're getting older and high blood pressure is definitely a problem. So this is something. If you could do, something that isn't a pill to help yourself and it may be along with medication why wouldn't you? Maybe along with medication? Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you? Basically, it's Botox for your soul and guess what? You don't need to be a saint, you just need to show up. If you just need to show up two hours a week, and we'll talk about what, where, when and how, but I want you to think about that, I want that to really sink in, that just showing up for someone else or something else two hours a week can keep you out of depression, lower your blood pressure easy for you to say and live longer. Why wouldn't you do it? Why wouldn't you do it? You just need to show up, so the health benefits to it, the glow up, is real.
Speaker 1:Volunteering boosts your mood, gives you a reason to put on real pants, and not all of them. You need to put on real pants, for you could wear sweats to volunteer at the animal shelter or at a local rescue, or going to read to kids, or helping kids with their reading, or helping kids with homework, or you don't really have to put on real pants, but you can and you get to connect with other human beings, which, let's be honest, is something we all need after that hermit phase of 2020. And I think for a lot of us, getting out of that hermit phase has been really hard, but, FYI, it's been five years. Five years. It's time to step on out and see what the world needs to help yourself and to help others. It also sharpens your brain, that's right. Brain cells Don't have to retire just because you did your brain, that's right. Brain cells don't have to retire just because you did.
Speaker 1:And, like I had mentioned before, helping kids read, organizing a food drive keeps the noggin working and the heart happy, plus less time binge-watching crime dramas alone. It's a win-win. Now, okay, I understand, I am a binge-watching crime drama junkie. Just because you volunteer a couple of days a week doesn't mean it has to cut into your crime watching time. Let's not get crazy here. I mean seriously. But again, it's a win, win for everyone. Now, my two cats are like having a fight here. Let's stop for a minute. Okay, I'm going to have to do a little editing there. They were getting a little feisty. Patrick is my talker. You can probably hear him talking in the background. So finding your volunteer flavor? Hmm, not all volunteering is created equal. You don't have to do anything that involves a clipboard or a potluck, unless that's your thing. Into books. Help a kid learn to read my girlfriend, joanne. If you're listening, joanne, hi miss you.
Speaker 1:I used to volunteer at one of the elementary schools and help with their reading program. Handy with a phone Call. Lonely Seniors Love bossing people around. Nonprofits need you. There is so much out there where they need you. There are in-person gigs, there are remote gigs, one-day events, long-term commitments. Think of it like dating, but instead of ghosting you're actually doing some good. So there's everything out there, all kinds of things. It's not just one way, it's not just there's Boy Scouts. There's boys and girls in scouting that don't have parents that can show up for them. Boys and girls clubs there is so much. There is now food pantries. I've volunteered for years at a food pantry in Orange County when my kids were growing up. I didn't work, I was a stay-at-home mom and I did more volunteer hours than I ever care to think about between scouting, church and the food pantry. So it's as wide as you want it to be, it's as narrow as you want it to be and it is all under your control.
Speaker 1:Aarp's Create the Good platform is full of ways to match your vibe to your volunteer gig. It's like Tinder for do-gooders. So, like I've told you all, if you're not, you should be an AARP member. There's so many benefits. I got lower car insurance, lower homeowner's insurance by being an AARP member. You get all kinds of benefits and their website is chock full of information. You get all kinds of benefits and their website is chock full of information. To be honest, a lot of the information that I'm using for this podcast came from AARP, so check into it. Go to their Create the Good section and again, it's like Tinder for do-gooders It'll match you up with something that suits your soul.
Speaker 1:The beauty of volunteering at this age it's not just to help your kids and you get to pick what you volunteer at. You get to do. Maybe there's a garden that needs help, maybe there's helping kids plant a great thing to do. It really is. I right now am volunteering at my church. Craig and I run a book group. Maybe that's your thing. Run a book group, a gardening club, start something for lonely seniors, a gardening club, start something for lonely seniors. I'm also the the name just went right out of my head. I am the stewardship chair for our cathedral as well, and I put in hours doing that. I also volunteer. My podcast doesn't pay me, so this is another one of the things I do I bring you information this is my volunteer to you. I hope last week you enjoyed Nita's information on Advantage Plans. It gave me a lot to think about as I'm moving into that phase. But I volunteer basically to do these podcasts. I put the time in, I put these scripts together, I work on things and I bring that information to you so you can find something that works for you.
Speaker 1:Socializing without small talk. Volunteering gives you instant community without the awkward. So what do you do? Convo? You're all there for a reason. You skip the fluff and you dive into purpose. So there doesn't have to be if you're not a small talk person. You're there to pass out water at a race. You're there to do. Everybody's there and they know what they're there and you're there for a purpose. And let's not ignore the bonus side effect Cute volunteer vests Okay, maybe not cute, but definitely conversation starters. You might increase your t-shirt collection too. Sometimes you get t-shirts in your volunteer jobs. It's never too late unless you're done.
Speaker 1:And remember what I told you volunteering what lengthens your life. Think you're too old to start volunteering? No, some of the best volunteers are 70 plus because they bring the one thing younger folks are short on time and wisdom. We have time. We have wisdom. We need to share that. You've got stories, skills, sass and yes time. So why not make it count?
Speaker 1:Whether it's AmeriCorps, seniors Experience Corps or your local pet shelter, someone out there needs you. Not 20 years ago you, they need you now. Wrinkles and all the beauty of volunteering is as long as you're a good person and you show up, no one's going to fire you. You don't have to go through a hiring process. Sometimes you have some vetting to do, depending if you're working with kids and of course, they need to do their due diligence. But you know what? What are us seniors worried about at our jobs all the time? Getting aged out, fired. Volunteering, that's not a worry. Long as you show up and do what they need you to do, they're going to keep you. Let's get real and real busy.
Speaker 1:Volunteering isn't just about being noble. It's about feeling connected, feeling energized and feeling youthful and, dare I say, young. Yep, I said it, it's gonna make you feel younger. You're gonna connect with different ages. You are going to feel revitalized. I promise you that.
Speaker 1:So my challenge to you this week is find one thing, just one. Maybe it's a one-day local event or an online opportunity, a cause you care about. Dip your toe in. It might be just at your church. Hey, if your church, your synagogue, your place of worship, do they have a seniors group? Maybe it's time to start one. My mom started one at her church and it was called Salt and Pepper. I can't remember now, but you know my mother-in-law had a group called the Owls, you know.
Speaker 1:So look into what you already are a part of. Do they need something more? Can you volunteer to bring something? Maybe your place of worship needs people to work with kids. It's an easy place to start a place. You're already connected. If you're not ready to venture out, start where you're already connected. You may be connected to a gardening group. Have you thought about talking to your local gardening group and saying, hey, why don't we start something for kids? Bring kids in and show them how vegetables are grown, that they don't just show up in the grocery store. Anyways, I want you to think about that. I want you to dip your toe in. You might just end up cannibaling into something amazing and you never know. I will tell you, I have never regretted one of my volunteer positions and I don't regret the ones I have now. I'm going to tell you, even you know, if you're living in a condo, like I am, maybe they need a movie club, maybe they need a book group. It's a way to start. It's a way to connect.
Speaker 1:I'm always all about the animals. If you love animals, heading over to your local shelter or your local rescue, helping them hand feed kittens, doing whatever they need cleaning cages. Our oldest, kyle, has always been a volunteer at the PetSmart rescues. You know how in PetSmart they have the kitties there and everything, and you know they split the job up amongst many people. So Kyle was one night a week was the job to take. You know, take the the job up amongst many people. So Kyle was one night a week was the job to take. You know, take the animals out, clean the cages. They clean them in the morning and at night, and there's a volunteer that does it in the morning and there's a volunteer that does it at night. They need you. This world does not run on money alone. Let me tell you, it runs on volunteers.
Speaker 1:So that's it for today's episode of Aging Ape for Sissies. If you like it, please share it with your friends, because sharing is caring, and that counts as volunteering too. Right, sharing my podcast. You know, if you need any of the information for my podcast, you can find it at wwwagingapefversissiespodcastcom. You've got Nita Wenrick's information there from last week. You can send me an email from there. If you have suggestions for episodes, you have comments? No criticism, please. This is a platform that I just I work very hard at to make happy for you, so, but if you have any suggestions for episodes, I would love that. Or if you have something you want to come in and talk about, I would love to interview you. So if you have information to share, if you have a job, if you have something that you feel needs to get out there to the senior community, please contact me. My contact information again is at my website, insight I'm sorry, agingainforsussypodcastcom.
Speaker 1:And a reminder I have another podcast called Inside Marci's Mind. You can find it where you find this podcast and all podcasts. It also has a website, insidemarci'smindcom. You can listen to my episodes on my websites as well. And this week, on Inside Marci's Mind, we're going to be talking about dehydration. It's a problem. It's a problem for everyone, so we're going to talk about that. I want you to stay sassy, stay bold and stay useful. Until next time, go do something good with a little attitude. Talk to you next week.
