Well, you made it. You’re finally retired. Now, it’s time for you to kick back and relax but for a growing number of seniors this calmer lifestyle may not be your cup of tea.

As more people are retiring early and living longer and healthier lives, they may get restless. They may want to find something fulfilling to do, long for something fun to do which allows them to meet other people or just simply want to stay active in their community. For many of these senior citizens, volunteering is the perfect fit.

Volunteering can take up many forms and can be as active or passive as an individual may want. Volunteering is simply action taken by people who care reaching out to help others in need or to solve a community problem. For the majority of people who volunteer, these actions come out of a sense of responsibility of caring for or helping other people and can provide a great deal of fulfillment. According to information available on the American Association of Retired Persons (www.aarp.org) website, about 44 percent of all people age 55 and older volunteer at least once a year. The information was compiled through a Gallup Organization study conducted for Independent Sector Survey and determined that volunteers give an average of 4.4 hours of service per week to the causes they support. This translates into about 5.5 billion hours of volunteer service contributed by the senior population each year, which is a significant amount. These services are estimated to be valued at more than $70.5 billion.

The desire to serve and help others is one major reason people volunteer and it can be rewarding to those who provide that service but volunteers can benefit other ways as well. Volunteering is a way for seniors to exercise the skills and talents that they have garnered through a lifetime of experiences. It’s also a chance for people to learn new skills. It can provide possibilities for a new career and a way to build new confidence and, for some, a chance to fulfill longtime dreams and ambitions. It’s also a way to improve morale and attitude because while helping others, people can forget their own worries and simply feel good about what they are doing. Actually, research has indicated that volunteer service can help improve life expectancy by fostering better psychological and physical well-being.

AARP has a great deal of information about volunteering and how seniors can get involved. Those interested can go out to provide the service to individuals or communities in need by working one-on-one with people, provide “behind the scenes” assistance such as clerical work or even help without leaving home by providing help on the computer. People can provide clerical assistance or provide expertise to an organization via e-mail. There are opportunities available for whatever many levels of interest and it’s just a matter of finding the right fit.