Lydia in “The Power of Purpose and Meaning in Life” compares different styles to make one’s life meaningful. She talks about having a meaningful life in two ways, one by only by health outcomes and the other by not only health but also by every aspect of our lives. The first method term that was utilized in the study that Lydia describes is Aspects of life. Aspects of life is about personal growth and development. For making your life meaningful one’s health plays an important role but besides health, aspects of life are also equally important in one’s life. As Lydia stated that a growing body of research found that the feeling that one’s life has meaning is associated with the host of positive health outcomes. And she also states the now the new study of older adults published in Proceedings of national academy of sciences goes further by revealing that the sense that one is living a worthwhile life appears to be positive linked to just about every aspects of life, not just health.
The second method term that was utilized in the study that Lydia describes is Worthwhile ratings. There was an ongoing British survey of older adults known as English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). Every two years or so, members of ELSA sit for extensive interviews and series of medical tests. They were asked to rate how worthwhile they felt their lives to be on the scale of one to ten. People with high ratings were less likely to be lonely. And on the other hand, people how have low ratings tended to spend lot of time alone. People having High ratings participated in cultural activities, volunteering etc. and they have a great meaningful life as it is particularly for a older man and women, it is important to be engaged in social activity to be healthy and have meaningful life.
By conducting an experiment by, English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) stated, it was possible that strong connections and good health contribute to people’s sense that their lives have meaning. Someone who was physically inactive at baseline but gave high ratings was more likely to have become regularly active later than someone with lower ratings.
Even though the study done by ELSA and Steptoe stated that the health, worthwhile rating, and aspects of life everything is important to have a meaningful life. But I think with all this thing, Purpose is also the most important thing in one’s life to have a meaningful life. Because purpose can influence behavior, shape goals, offer a sense of direction, and create meaning in one’s life.
References
- Lydia Denworth. (2019, January 12) The Power of Purpose and Meaning in Life. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/201901/the-power-purpose-and-meaning-in-life
- Leider, R. (2010) And Parks, S.D. (2011) https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/what-life-purpose
