A recent article cites a study that links lower mortality and cardiovascular risk to having a purpose in life. You can read about it here. This may seem obvious to some of you, while others of you may still be skeptical.
Here is my experience around this.
Having a will to live can be a key influence in a critical moment. Imagine that you are standing on a narrow path next to a shear drop off. You feel your feet begin to slip. You instinctively start to catch yourself, but then you remember all the negative messages people have been telling you. And you recall how much of a struggle it is to go to a job you hate day after day, week after week. And you recall how disappointed you are in your marriage. It all seems pretty hopeless, and in this brief moment, you know how easy it would be to not catch yourself and just let yourself go over the edge.
You might think that this type of critical moment wouldn’t really come up that often, that it doesn’t really apply to the article. But the truth is that this sort of moment comes up all the time. It comes up every time we choose to eat healthy or to have another burger and fries. It comes up when we decide to go for a walk or to stay on the couch. It comes up every time we have a choice to expand our life experience, or to stay in stagnation. We think, “ah well, it doesn’t really matter anyway, I might as well _______.”
When I had my heart attack in 2005, it would have been easy to do nothing … and die. I had to act to chose life.
Having a clear sense of purpose can mean everything to not only the length of our life, but to the quality of our life as well. When we have a clear sense of purpose, we have a reason to live – our will to live increases. I know from experience that a sense of purpose where others gain by my contribution makes my life more vibrant, exciting, and expansive.
I have such a clear sense of this, that when I see people pick a life of routine, safety, and risk avoidance, I see it as a choice towards death. It seems counter-intuitive, but when we try play it safe, we live a small life with less meaning, and we end up with less life. When our life feels meaningless, we make choices that bring us closer to death. And when we have purpose, we tend to make choices that bring more life.
If your everyday experience has been a little lifeless lately, maybe it’s time to discover your purpose.
