Lifestyle Trends
Finding Your Purpose in Life
In the past few years, research has touted the benefits of having a purpose in life, physically as well as emotionally. Two recent studies show that having a purpose in life increased longevity. But how do you find meaning in life? Where do you start? Click here to view article.
In the past few years, research has touted the benefits of having a purpose in life, physically as well as emotionally. Two recent studies show that having a purpose in life increased longevity. But knowing is one thing and doing is another. Where do you find meaning, and how do you start?
In 2005, Rev. Richard Joyner, the pastor of the Conetoe Family Life Center in rural North Carolina, came to the realization that he had presided over too many funerals at a church of just 300 members. In one year alone, 30 congregants younger than 32 years old had died.
A lot of the deaths were health related—poor diets, no exercise—but poverty also played a role. After 25 years of being a minister, he realized that his spiritual mission needed to address the mental, physical and even economic health of his church members. So at age 52, Joyner started the Conetoe Family Life Center. One of its projects is a community garden, and young people sell the produce they grow and distribute honey from the beehives they manage to low-income residents. The revenue they earn goes to school supplies and scholarships. At the same time, the whole community is learning the value of healthy food and lifestyle. As dietary practices have changed, people have lost weight, emergency room visits for primary health care are down, and the number of deaths has decreased. Kids are heading to college, the military and the workforce.
Joyner is one of six recipients of the Purpose Prize, an annual contest that recognizes—and rewards—people age 60 and over who are making a positive social impact. The winners receive a total of $300,000 in cash prizes. Now in its ninth year, the Purpose Prize is a project of www.Encore.org, a national nonprofit that is encouraging people in midlife and beyond to use their skills and experience to improve the world.
“While many see our aging society as a problem, we view it as a solution,” Encore states. “Those in and beyond midlife represent a powerful source of talent with the accumulated skills, experience and wisdom to tackle some of society’s most urgent challenges. By embracing this unique opportunity, we can transform a zero-sum prediction into a win-win strategy, creating a better future for generations to come.”
Health Benefits
In addition to helping the world, having a purpose can lengthen your life, according to research. A recent study looked at data from the Midlife in the United States project, which is funded by the National Institute on Aging. Researchers asked more than 6,000 people questions that gauged positive and negative emotions. They observed how people responded to statements like “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.” Fourteen years after responding to the questions, people who had reported a greater sense of purpose and direction in life were more likely to have outlived their peers. (NPR blog). In fact, people with a sense of purpose had a 15 percent lower risk of death, compared with those who said they were more or less aimless.
In another study, a team from the University of Michigan found that older adults with a strong sense of purpose in life may be more likely to get health screenings such as colonoscopies and mammograms than those who lack such a purpose.
Charles Fletcher, another Purpose Prize winner, found his purpose in life after retiring at the age of 58 and volunteering at a Dallas-area equine therapy center for children with disabilities. Although he found the work rewarding, Fletcher wanted to focus more on healing as well as including those who couldn’t afford the sometimes expensive therapy. After researching innovative equine therapy methods, talking to medical specialists and learning about brain development, he launched SpiritHorse in Corinth, Texas. Today, his nonprofit employs 20 salaried instructors and provides hour-long therapy sessions to roughly 400 riders every week at his Texas ranch alone, serving children with disabilities, at-risk youth, battered women and wounded veterans—all at no cost to them. Since 2001, when he first started his operation, his enterprise has helped more than 5,000 people.
Where Do You Start?
Many of us don’t have the grander vision of Fletcher or Joyner or the means to implement such ambitious projects. Especially for those who have always focused on working and survival, how do you switch gears?
“Throughout my middle years, I never questioned what held meaning in my life,” writes Ed Merck, a former software entrepreneur and chief financial officer who retired at 63 (in Next Avenue). “The scaffolding of my identity as a successful college Chief Financial Officer and owner of a thriving software company was built into the job. . . . Then, once I moved over to the other side of full-time work, the picture became less clear. Take the job away and who was I? . . . I could also sense that new personal capacities were opening up for me, which could change my sudden sense of loss to a sense of gain. I felt something stir within me: The potential of moving forward with vitality and purpose. Yet I had only the slightest awareness of how to construct such a new reality.”
Merck wrote a book, Sailing the Mystery, about his experience in finding purpose. He writes that, because we’re all different, we need to “identify the activities that provide you with a sense of purpose.” For some, that might be working with others or being immersed in nature. It helps to “create a brief statement that ties together the interests that provide you with a sense of purpose.” Having a core phrase, such as “Do everything for the benefit of others,” can work as a mantra or guiding light.
Merck recommends you “strengthen your inner landscape,” which can involve more reflection and contemplation, using tools such as meditation or yoga. Similarly, “learn to be still. I often think the key to fulfillment in one’s later years is not about finding purpose; rather, we need to let it find us. Sounds easy, but it’s not, since implicit in that notion is learning a whole new way of embracing life.” Finally, “explore what it means to create,” which he sees as discovering ourselves through art, music, writing, cooking, conversation or just sitting quietly.
Dr. Susan Biali, who teaches a course on finding purpose in life, offers questions to ask yourself (fromPsychology Today):
- What do you love to do that you would do even if you don’t get paid for it?
- What do other people say you’re really good at?
- What is the one thing you want to experience, or do, or accomplish, before you die, so that on your last day on earth you feel satisfied and have no regrets in that area?
Seattle resident Judy Pickens would probably answer the first question by talking about her volunteer work. Using hands-on training, she works to save salmon by having her students raise salmon eggs and then release them into local streams (Seattle Times). At the same time, she teaches her students about ferns and bugs in the park surrounding the creek.
Over 24 years, Pickens has pushed through improvements for the creek habitat and helped run the salmon-release program for 10 elementary schools. “I want to be known more for my motivation than for what I did,’’ she says. “I believe in the message of the Gospels ‘to do.’ I’m obligated to do for others.” Sources
“Doing unto others: In helping, volunteers serve a higher purpose,” Dec. 18, 2013, Seattle Times
“A ‘Purpose in Life’ May Extend Yours,” HealthDay
“Helping You Find Your Life Purpose,” Nov. 8, 2013, Psychology Today
“6 Outstanding Social Innovators,” Oct. 27, 2014, AARP
“5 Tips to Find Meaning and Purpose in Later Life,” Aug. 27, 2014, Next Avenue
“People Who Feel They Have a Purpose in Life Live Longer,” July 28, 2014, NPR blog
How to Find a Purposeful Life
Don’t know where to begin? Grab a piece of paper and pencil.
Make a list of the things you do for fun, or that you really enjoy. Imagine you’re a billionaire with no worries about money, how would you choose to spend your time? This list is of your passions; the things that you love to do, or would do simply for the pleasure they bring you.
Write down the names of people you admire and why you admire them. When you’re done, look at the list and know that what you appreciate about others is also in you. Adopt these good qualities of others as a way of inspiring your own actions.
Make a list of your natural talents. These can be an eye for detail, a great sense of humor or the ability to focus intently. These skills can be used in service of our life purpose.
Keep in mind that often we find our purpose along the way. Some people don’t realize their purpose until they look back and see the pattern of their lives. Finally, it’s normal to feel scared when stepping into your life purpose. Just think of the fear as the energy you need to take the next step.
(Adapted from “How to Find Your Life’s Purpose,”wikiHow)
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