Why Do The Elderly Need A Purpose?

“Thousands Now Have A Purpose Who Never Thought They Could”

Finding a sense of purpose is important for seniors because it can actually help them stay healthier and longer. That’s correct, finding a purpose for living has been shown to extend your life. Simply put, people who feel a greater sense of purpose generally live longer than those who lack feelings of purpose. Additionally, higher levels of purpose in life have also been associated with better sleep quality and can reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Having a high sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study led by researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai Roosevelt and presented on March 6 at the American Heart Association’s EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore.

Previous work has shown that purpose in life can be protective against numerous negative health outcomes including sleep disturbances. Given that sleep disturbances are common among older adults and African Americans, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between purpose in life, overall sleep quality, and the presence of sleep disorders in a community-based bi-racial sample of older adults.

Your purpose is the reason you do or create things. It’s what gets you out of bed in the morning–your raison d’etre.

1. A Life Without Purpose Has No Meaning

Have you ever dreaded living a lifeless life? If not, you probably don’t know how excruciating such an existence is.

Imagine not wanting to wake up every morning but also not wanting to go to sleep at night. No will to work, no excitement to spend, no friends’ company to enjoy, and no reason to continue living. A blank mind with nothing to think about. The lack of emotions—negative and positive. Nothing to look forward to.

Yes, it’s clearly a depressing life. That’s exactly what you end up feeling without a purpose in life.

However, once you have a clear idea of why you’re living, you get an idea of the bigger outcome that you can look forward to. Every step of the way is meaningful. Your journey is not just a wander around without an aim. Instead, even the strolls become enjoyable because you know they’re leading you to where you’re supposed to be.

2. You’re Full of Anxiety

Do you find yourself stuck in a cycle of an anxious life? Well, there’s a high chance it’s because of your lack of purpose.

A life without purpose is senseless. Nothing you do in life is connected. Since nothing seems to be coherent, your mind is unable to comprehend why everything is happening.

Anxiety is triggered when a person’s mind thinks their life is in danger. So, in the case of a purposeless life, your brain translates the lack of connection to be a threat to your life. Anything that doesn’t seem to be a fit is automatically a danger as per your brain.

On the contrary, if your mind can link your doings with a coherent purpose, everything tends to make more sense. Hence, you feel more at peace and less anxious. Your mind is at ease because the path to the final purpose isn’t pointless anymore.

3. Motivation Is a Long-Lost Dream

One thing that pretty much every human who wants to be successful needs is a lot of motivation.

Do You Know You Only Have About 2,000 Weeks Left in Life?

For a clearer picture, look at it from the perspective that you do have a defined purpose in life. You trust in every way that life leads you to. What does that do? It boosts your brain to work harder. Every step of the way makes you feel closer to your final destination. This automatically encourages you to perform better.

Without a purpose, you can never scale your achievements. Since you don’t know what it’s leading you to, you consider it to be meaningless. But when you’re well aware of the expected results, the smallest progress is a motivation booster too.

You can try out all the motivation-boosting tips but the one that will work the best is to find your life’s purpose and live by it.

4. Lack of Focus Keeps You From Growing

Every field, career, part of life, and relationship requires growth. Human life is ultimately the name of progress—if nothing else, at least your mental capacity and knowledge grow.

Where does this growth come from? You could have access to the best knowledge sources. Yet, you won’t learn a word unless your mind is in a state to absorb that information. Similarly, if you’re focused, you can learn something valuable even from the most non-happening events.

5. Success Seems Unachievable in a Life Without Purpose

Everything that you’ve read so far directly contributes to your success or failure. So, mental peace, motivation, and focus are all important to be successful in any part of your life. But there’s more to the picture.

You may have a vision in mind even if you don’t have a life purpose. You might even push yourself to the maximum to stay focused in the direction that you think is right for you.

Look at it this way:

You head out for New York but you got on the wrong road. You’re welcomed with a narrow road that is too dark to even see around—but you keep going. Your car breaks down and there’s no workshop nearby. Yet, you push the car as far as possible. You can go for as long as you want but you’ll never reach New York.

So, without even knowing what your life’s purpose is—no matter how hard you work—it will be useless. If you know the right path for you, you might not even have to work half as hard to get to your desired results.

6. Affects Physical Health

A life without purpose affects more than just your mental health. It can impact your physical well-being too.^[1]

First of all, the strain on your mind automatically translates to your physical body. Continuous stress is likely to cause hair loss, acne, weight loss, weight gain, etc. But there can be more serious consequences as well.

Studies have proven that people with a clear sense of purpose in life live longer than those who continue with a life without purpose. People with their life purpose well-defined were able to tolerate more pain and also had a lesser risk of heart diseases.

What’s more astonishing is that people without a purpose in life are 2.4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, too.

7. Nothing in Life Is Enjoyable

Social inclusion is a huge part of one’s purpose in life. People who are living a purposeless life tend to be more lonely. Even if they join social gatherings, they are lesser likely to enjoy it.

Since such people do not have mental clarity, they just cannot enjoy the fun things around them. Their brain is unable to comprehend emotions. This doesn’t necessarily mean that their circumstances aren’t good enough. The same environment and people can be enjoyable for a person who feels content mentally.

Look at this list and see which ones you believe in and are still true today?

1. There seems to be a point where sickness swallows up purpose and positive life.
2. I don’t have time to do this while I am sick.
3. What has purpose really done for anyone?
4. The culture will provide the future with purpose for me.
5. I have not focused on it my entire life. Why now?
6. It’s just the word sitting in my head it doesn’t mean anything.
7. Maybe there is no purpose in life.
8.  Purposes will be created by somebody else, not you.
9. I can no longer get what I want. I never really got what I wanted.
10. Someone will come along and destroy my purpose anyway.
11. Purposes are not loved by many people maybe a few social workers.

Your Purpose Doesn’t Have To Be Gigantic

There are some common beliefs that your purpose has to be something grand. Something big and time-consuming. Your purpose can be something very simple. For example, Help a person every day or donate an hour of your time to a charity, or create a mini-habit. Here are some other examples:

Family life 

Nothing beats the sense of meaning that our loved ones bring to our lives.

Get more involved in your grandkids’ lives, and take them to the park, to a movie, or to lunch. Seeing them grow up can fill your life with meaning. Speak to other family members often and invite them over for tea or dinner. Become more connected with your family in any way you can.

Look For Opportunities To Contribute

There’s nothing more meaningful than feeling that what you do helps others. Actively create opportunities to contribute.

• Grandchildren: support your children by offering to babysit your grandkids whenever you can, or help the little ones with homework.
• Adopt a pet: our pets depend on us for everything, so taking care of a rescued animal can fill your life with new meaning and purpose. Also, dogs provide opportunities for interacting with other members of your community. You can meet other dog owners in the park and make new friends.
• Take care of plants: similarly, taking care of live plants can also be a meaningful activity that doesn’t require as much effort as an animal.
• Get involved in your local community: Foster a sense of connection by meeting your neighbors, looking for local events, volunteering locally, and offering your help. The feeling of belonging will add meaning to your life.
• Volunteer: when it comes to drawing meaning from helping others, volunteering is a great option. Giving back to society will make you feel good about yourself, and give you a sense of satisfaction and purpose from knowing that what you’re doing makes a difference.

Here are some wonderful ideas from happier human

Source: 37 Personal Purpose Statement Examples and Ideas – Happier Human

37 Personal Purpose Statement Examples and Ideas

Some of these are one-size-fits-all. Change a word or two to fit your purpose, or exchange the field used in the example for yours. For instance, “To provide legal services …,” could be, “To provide social services, educational services, or healthcare services.”

1. To motivate and inspire others to live a life where they are mentally and physically healthy and have peace and contentment.

2. I am dedicated to working on behalf of children, to bring them the resources they need for a healthy and prosperous present and future life.

3. To bring more convenient and functional technology to the world that will improve the quality of life. 

4. To lead by example, personifying my values of kindness, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, and hard work.

5. To bring joy to the world through music and lyrics that inspire.

6. I want to instill in others the self-love and confidence that gives them the self-efficacy to excel and make their dreams come true.

7. To live each day to the fullest and appreciate, as well as learn and grow from every experience.

8. To play a significant role in creating a company culture where all workers feel appreciated so that they feel like their time with the company is a worthwhile investment in themselves, their families, and their future.

9. To use my cooking skills to bring families and individuals nutritious, tasty food options.

10. To appreciate and enjoy my family every day, by making decisions that put their best interests first.

11. To create communication devices that free individuals up to spend more quality, in-person time with loved ones. I want to make devices that foster more work-life balance.

12. To embrace my God-given talent, work hard to cultivate and enhance it, and be the best at what I do.

13. To put forth the effort, discipline, and all that it takes to excel and be the best athlete.

14. To gain the knowledge necessary to educate others on how to become financially independent, and empower individuals with that knowledge.

15. To teach children about nutrition, the short and long-term benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and how to start and maintain such a lifestyle.

16. To provide healthcare and hope to the suffering and their loved ones.

17. To provide legal services that reduce social injustices and other disparities that exist due to the status quo.

18. To provide legal services that give the disenfranchised and marginalized a voice.

19. To create materials, services, or products that help girls and women achieve and maintain healthy self-esteem.

20. To empower marginalized young men by giving them the resources they need to overcome racial, educational, political, and socioeconomic barriers and injustices.

21. To participate in the creation and enactment of laws that reduce the number of women and children negatively impacted by domestic violence.

22. To make the world a better place for individuals with special needs, by participating in initiatives that focus on inclusivity and strengths recognition.

23. I want to treat others as I want to be treated, forgive freely, and embrace and appreciate commonalities and differences. I want to be remembered as someone who brought more peace, understanding, and love to the world.

24. To lead by example and be the loving, caring, forgiving human being God intended. To love my neighbor as I love myself and as God loves.

25. To be a parent who meets my children’s needs. To teach and show them that success is about being the best person you can be, treating everyone as you wish to be treated, and doing what makes you happy.

26. To make sure the world always has transportation that is safe, reliable, and accessible.

27. To build infrastructures that improve communities and the quality of life.

28. To design transportation systems that put products in consumers’ hands faster and more economically.

29. To work with and serve the elderly in a way that makes them feel valued, needed, and an integral part of a thriving society.

30. To serve in a role where I identify the most vulnerable and work to bring the resources that will help them gain physiological security. 

31. To touch the world with my art, and be an outlet for others to express or feel that someone else is expressing their true vulnerabilities and feelings. My art will do more than entertain, it will make people feel supported and understood.

32. To achieve the education required to serve the purpose God intended for me. With that education, I will give back to society generously, and remarkably leave the world in some concrete way better than it was before my contribution.

33. I want to be an educator who helps students see learning as a fun part of their life that they look forward to experiencing.    

34. To be a father who raises sons to be caring, loving, respectful, responsible men, protective of their loved ones, and daughters to be caring, loving, respectful, responsible women who know their value and will not compromise it.

35. To be the best wife, mother, and professional, successful at creating a secure, loving life for my family and myself.

36. To look at challenges or failures as stepping stones placed in my path so that when I do realize my full potential — my purpose — that purpose will be that much greater, better, and appreciated. To be a positive presence to others, to help them view life in the same way.

37. I want to approach life with a spirit of happiness, laughter, and forgiveness.

Use the above to help choose a purpose for yourself. It can make your life happier and longer if you have a purpose.

Here Are Some Activities To Help The Elderly

You can help your purpose by staying healthy with Balance of Nature