Life Purpose, Longer LifeHeather Callaghan Regardless of your age, feeling a sense of purpose for being alive a lifes purpose or calling can help you live longer, according to research published in Psychological Science. And the good news isit doesnt matter when you find it. Lead researcher Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada, said: Some previous studies determined that finding a purpose in life lowered the risk of early death, but Hill wonderedabout research examining whether the benefits of purpose vary over time, such as across different developmental periods or after important life transitions. He and colleague Nicholas Turiano of the University of Rochester Medical Center explored, by using data available from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study and looked at over 6,000 participants. They focused on those peoples self-reported purpose in life (e.g., Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them). Greater purpose in life consistently predicted lower mortality risk across the lifespan, showing the same benefit for younger, middle-aged, and older participants across the follow-up period. The consistent results made Hill remark: Now the researchers want to know if there is a connection between a lifes purpose and making better health decisions. Could that further account for longevity? And, aside from having a longer life span, theyd like to see if this whole life purpose thing has other effects on a persons life. Two years ago, a similar study found that a life purpose could protect people from negative changes in the brain that are seen in Alzheimers patients. So it appears that the biological effects of a lifes purpose are cataloged by at least two studies. It turns out, Ive written about Dr. Turianos research before. He used the same data from the 6,000 participants of the MIDUS study. To recap, he found that higher education had nothing to do with a longer life. Its the ability to live life on your own terms the feeling of control over your own life. Interestingly, a different study found that the belief of steering your own ship, so to speak, led to greater physical grip in elderly people. Do people take enough time to figure it out or develop that calling? Its easy not to with weapons of mass distraction everywhere. I think it takes time as a result of doing, but also with some reflection. Just for further readings sake, you might appreciate what the author of Modern Madness: The Hidden Link Between Work and Emotional Conflict has to say about this study and findingyour lifes purpose. He expounds on it at HuffingtonPost. Of course, there are countless writings on the topic All in all, I think each person, deep down, truly knows! Maybe its just a matter of doing more of what youre passionate about and putting your personal mission statement into words on paper as a reminder. You tell me: do you have a lifes purpose and how did you find it? Has it made your life better? Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work atNaturalBlaze.com and selfnewsPost.com. Like at Facebook. Recent posts byHeather Callaghan: 