Study says enrich and lengthen your life by finding purpose

What’s one of the best ways to discover how to live a long and happy life? Study elderly people.

US writer and researcher Dan Buettner is doing exactly that. He travels the world studying centenarians, people aged 100 and over, tracking their behavior to find what makes for a long and happy life.

Buettner recently published a best-selling book about his findings called The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest. He led the Blue Zones project, which will soon extend its research.

Buettner and his team discovered that having a sense of purpose in life is a common trait among the world’s centenarians.

What are some key characteristics of having a purpose in life?

• Find our passions, interests and skills
• Work into old age
• Develop a skill that challenges us and provides ongoing feedback
• Be actively religious – people who are actively religious are less depressed, less stressed and live longer than people who are not actively religious, according to studies
• Do volunteer work for better mental and physical health and lower mortality risk

A 2005 study of nearly 12,700 middle-aged Hungarians found that those who felt their lives had meaning had lower rates of cancer and heart disease than did those who didn’t feel this way.

Author and cofounder of the Chopra Center for Wellness in California, Dr Deepak Chopra, said, “Purpose gives you fulfillment and joy, and that can bring you… happiness.”

So for health, happiness and longevity have a purpose in life.

For the entire article visit AARP Magazine.