做志愿者是最好的修行

Doing good is good for you.

行善对你有好处。

Volunteering for two to 2.5 hours each week can be beneficial for your health, a new study suggests.

一项新的研究表明，每周做2到2.5个小时的志愿活动对你的健康有益。

A study for 2,705 volunteers age 18 and older found that 75 percent of those who volunteered in the past year said it made them feel “physically healthier”. And more than one-third (34 percent) of those who volunteered found participating helped them to better manage their chronic illnesses, compared to those who have not volunteered in the past 12 months.

一项针对2705名年龄在18岁及以上的志愿者的研究发现，过去一年做志愿者的人中有75%的人表示，做志愿者让他们感觉“身体更健康了”。对比去年的非志愿者，超过三分之一(34%)的志愿者发现参与志愿活动帮助他们更好地管理自己的慢性疾病。

While there is no physical evidence to support the claims in the study, do-gooders self-reported having an overall better quality of life, including a higher capacity to enjoy socializing and developing deeper friendships. The study also noted that volunteers can develop better professional skills and often practiced time management and teamwork better than they did before.

虽然没有实物证据来支持这项研究中的主张，但“行善者”自称他们的生活质量总体更高了，比如享受社交和培养更深厚友谊的能力增强了。该研究还指出，志愿者可以培养出更好的专业技能，并且在进行时间管理和团队合作方面通常要比之前更好了。

The same study found other mental and emotional benefits to spending your free time helping others: 93 percent of people reported an improved mood; 79 percent reported lower stress levels and 88 percent reported increased self-esteem by giving back.

同样的研究还发现了将闲暇时间用于帮助他人所带来的其他心理和情感上的好处:93%的人表示心情改善了;79%的人表示他们的压力水平降低了，88%的人表示通过回馈社会自尊增强了。

And there’s more evidence to suggest that helping those in need is a smart move. A separate study involving more than 64,000 people age 60 and up from 1998 to 2010 found that volunteering can enhance cognition. Individuals who volunteered 100 hours a year scored about 6 percent higher in cognitive testing, on average than non-volunteers.

还有更多的证据表明，帮助那些需要帮助的人是明智之举。另一项研究从1998年开始到2010年结束，涉及64000多名60岁及以上的人，该研究发现做志愿活动可以增强认知能力。每年做志愿活动100个小时的人在认知测试中的评分要比非志愿者平均高出约6%。