Do you have purpose in your life? If you were asked what meaning your life has, how would you answer? There's what we might call transcendent Purpose (a large over-arching meaning for your life). And then there's what we might call small-p purpose: that which gets you up each morning because it's what you do each day and why you do it.
Research has found that people who had no purpose or who had a weak purpose in life were 2.4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who had a strong purpose for their lives. People with strong purpose appear to live longer and healthier lives. It has even been shown that people who have strong purpose are more likely to be willing to make changes in life.
Because of the wonderful side effects of having purpose, it is well that we regularly take some time to ask ourselves what purpose we have, both in terms of large-P Purpose and of small-p purpose. The large meaning for your life may be that you're an encourager, for example. Perhaps you affirm and validate others regularly. That purpose runs as a larger thread through all of your life.
Daily purpose can change. For example, you may have had a career as a teacher. Now you are retired and you volunteer at the local library and spend time with your grandchildren. Your daily routine has changed and what gets you up in the morning now looks different than it did when you were in the midst of your teaching career.
Why not do some thinking, or journaling, today about purpose and meaning? It's an easy prescription for better health!
Showing posts with label meaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meaning. Show all posts
Friday, August 25, 2017
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Looking for meaning
It's said that millenials seek work and activities in their lives that have meaning. They don't want to settle for just anything.
I suspect that can be said of most of us. We search for meaning in our lives, in our work, in our relationships and in our hobbies and activities. It's important to think we're contributing in some way.
The story is told of three stonecutters who worked on a cathedral many centuries ago. When asked about their work of cutting stones for the cathedral, they each answered in a different way. The first man complained about the boredom and hard work of stonecutting. The second man said he was happy to have the work so he could provide for his beautiful family, whom he loved very much. And the third man spoke of the privilege he felt to be part of building a great cathedral that would stand as a "holy lighthouse" for thousands of years.
Isn't it interesting to see how each man saw his job from a different perspective? Each assigned different meaning to the very same task.
How do you see your life? Your work? Your relationships? Do you need to change anything? Or do you simply need to attach different meaning to some of the elements of your life?
I suspect that can be said of most of us. We search for meaning in our lives, in our work, in our relationships and in our hobbies and activities. It's important to think we're contributing in some way.
The story is told of three stonecutters who worked on a cathedral many centuries ago. When asked about their work of cutting stones for the cathedral, they each answered in a different way. The first man complained about the boredom and hard work of stonecutting. The second man said he was happy to have the work so he could provide for his beautiful family, whom he loved very much. And the third man spoke of the privilege he felt to be part of building a great cathedral that would stand as a "holy lighthouse" for thousands of years.
Isn't it interesting to see how each man saw his job from a different perspective? Each assigned different meaning to the very same task.
How do you see your life? Your work? Your relationships? Do you need to change anything? Or do you simply need to attach different meaning to some of the elements of your life?
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