We’re now a few weeks into the New Year 2007. I hope you are making progress with your New Year’s Resolutions. I’m a bit off schedule on one of mine because a project is moving a bit slower than I expected. So I’ve revised my plan, and I’ll be back on track next week!

The early days of a new year are a good time to think about volunteering, whether you are already retired or you are planning for retirement. I think volunteering in the community in some capacity is a very important part of life.

If you know my life story, you know that I have endured my share of hard times and struggled to achieve my goals. I know I would not have made it without the support and help of others along the way. Now, I am not only grateful to those who helped me, I am determined to pass on the gift to others.

Volunteering is an incredibly fulfilling activity. It gives new meaning to our lives. Perhaps this is one of the reasons so many retirees find such great joy in volunteering. When we leave a career, we need some new enterprise to give us a new sense of meaning in life. Finding a new sense of meaning and purpose, in fact, is one of the major factors in aging successfully.

Volunteering in the community gives us many new opportunities, including the opportunity to: