Do you live a meaningful life? One day, out of the blue, with no warning whatsoever, I was asked this question by a complete stranger. Do you live a meaningful life?
I froze. I was at a loss for words. When I recovered, I initially wanted to defend myself. How dare you ask me such a personal question! But that didn’t seem fair to the stranger with the kindest pair of eyes. His question was valid, and something that I, and you, for that matter, should be asking ourselves.
Because having a sense of purpose or meaning in your life, studies show, can improve your health and wellbeing, as well as protect you from early death. So, it’s really worth taking in, reflecting on, and having an answer dug deep from the soul.
But in our consumerist, materialistic world, that’s easier said than done. How many of you, like me, will stutter when asked this question without a moment’s notice?
But before you ponder on this, let’s mull over the concept of purpose or meaning in life first. Why is it such a central and overarching theme in humanity? What makes it so powerful? And what can we do, for those who are still wandering aimlessly, to find it?
The pursuit of meaning
The search for meaning is an age-old pursuit that humans have chased for centuries. From ancient philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, all the way up to modern-day thinkers, social scientists, and psychologists.
To familiarize ourselves with the concept, let’s look at what philosopher, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor, and author of the book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl has to say about it.
According to Frankl, the search for meaning is quintessential to human life — “a firm sense of meaning is essential for human development.”
It’s important to ask ourselves “Why am I here? Why was I given this life? What am I here for?”
The answers to these give our lives a purpose, a meaning, and is the core of everything we do, and what we aspire to do. It shapes our decisions, our endeavors, life goals, and priorities.
It becomes the foundation by which we judge our actions, and “gives us a sense of control over the events in our life.”
It’s what motivates us to wake up every day, to surpass hurdles, and go on living. Our sense of self-worth emanates within.
However, it may seem too abstract and broad a term to grasp. Laura King, a psychologist from the University of Missouri, helps break it down to three components.
She wrote, “lives may be experienced as meaningful when they are felt to have a significance beyond the trivial or momentary, to have purpose, or to have coherence that transcends chaos.”
Based from this, the meaning or life purpose has three components:
- purpose: what are my goals and aspirations?
- significance: does my life have worth or value?
- coherence: are both (1 and 2) aligned?
Improving your health and wellbeing
If you haven’t found or worked on finding your life purpose yet, studies show you can benefit from mulling things over.
According to several studies conducted in the US and UK, people who believe they live meaningful lives are healthier and happier.
For example, take a look at this study from University College London, where UK residents aged 50 plus were interviewed.
The data revealed that the individuals who felt they’re living purposeful lives had:
- lower risk of divorce
- lower risk of living alone
- increased connections with friends and engagement in social and cultural activities
- lower incidence of new chronic disease and onset of depression
- lower obesity and increased physical activity
- increased adoption of positive health behaviors (exercising, eating fruit and vegetables.)
Based on the data, the researchers found that rather than pursuing happiness as an end-state, one must seek and find meaning through the activities that you pursue. Then, happiness will just follow.
In another study, the link between life purpose and mortality was explored. The researchers analyzed data from nearly 7,000 Americans ages 51 to 61, and were assessed between 2006 to 2010.
What they found shocked them. The people who didn’t have a strong life purpose were likely to die or suffer from cardiovascular diseases from 2006 to 2010.
On the other hand, the ones who had a healthier perspective was associated with a lower all-cause mortality. This remained unchanged, regardless of race, age, or education level.
This new study adds to a growing body of literature on the relationship between life purpose and physical health, from which we can glean insights and reap benefits. Which brings us to the next part of this article: if you haven’t yet, how can you find your purpose or meaning in your life?
The search for meaning
Victor Frankl, who learned a lot from his experience surviving a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, wrote about three sources of meaning: purposeful work, love, and courage in the face of difficulty.
He proposed that one can attain meaning in life, through three ways:
1. through work, deeds or actions, especially those that are aligned with a purpose greater than ourselves
2. through love, which manifests in the service of others.
3. and through suffering, which Frankl deemed was fundamental to human experience.
Lifting from his personal experience, Frankl found that meaning can be found in the way we react or respond to suffering.
“If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be
a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an eradicable part of life,
even as fate and death. Without suffering and death,
human life cannot be complete.”
From Frankl’s teachings, we learn that we can find meaning by:
- Finding activities or hobbies that bring you joy, or causes you care about, such as volunteering.
- Being kind, being in service of others, and spending quality time with family and friends.
- Adopting a healthy attitude towards adversities, knowing that life is made more meaningful in surpassing them.
But the question remains, how do we identify our life’s purpose, or in the words of author Paulo Coehlo, author of The Alchemist, your “personal legend?”
Try this mental exercise adapted from ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy exercise.)
- Identify your core values.
- Rate your values in order of priority.
- Set your intentions for each.
Conclusion
Some people are so gifted, they already know their personal legend right from the start, or as early as their childhood. Lucky them. But most people are like you and me, figuring things out as we journey in this thing called life.
Today, I am happy to say that if I ever meet the kind stranger again, I won’t stutter anymore. That I’d welcome the question with open arms, and have some sort of answer.
I do live a meaningful life, and a huge part of that is my love for words, books, and writing. And so I write this, to shine a light on a subject that some of us might be taking for granted in today’s fast-moving culture. May you find your meaning, and may it grow and prosper to bless others along the way.
— Contributed by Alina Co-Calleja, Naturally-Immune Staff
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References:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-and-why-finding-meaning-in-life-can-improve-well-being
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/126567525/your-health
https://www.all-about-psychology.com/the-importance-of-meaning-in-life.html
https://www.all-about-psychology.com/the-importance-of-meaning-in-life.html
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