Humans have always sought the secret to living longer. Some scientists have even had sleepless nights trying to figure out the secret to long life. While there isn’t any known drug that will make you live indefinitely, there are a couple of things you need to know that may help you live a longer and fuller life.
For some, marriage is their idea of an elixir for a long life. While it’s great to find a bride and settle down, this doesn’t equate to living longer. Even though the rate of suicide in single people exceeds the rate among married couples, married people can still live short, unfulfilled lives.
What do experts say about living longer? Can we learn anything from their advice? Let’s find out.
Psychology on Living Longer
Many people would have clicked this article expecting to see the advice of medical doctors about longer living. So, why are we interested in psychological advice? What bearing does psychology have on long life?
According to the authors of the ‘The Longevity Project’ Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin, most people who live well into old age don’t do so because they’ve beaten terminal illnesses. He said that these long-lived individuals avoid serious illnesses totally by taking steps that strengthen their relationships with others. This assertion promotes a prevention-focused strategy to living long and that’s why we will be discussing psychologists’ recommendations about living longer.
Best Life Advice by Psychologists
For years, psychologists have dished out techniques for people to improve the quality of their lives. These tips are usually centered on taking care of their mental health – an aspect that is easy to ignore, but just as delicate as physical health. Some of these pieces of advice come in handy in relationships and everyday living. They include:
Find a purpose and work on it
Irrespective of your age, having the feeling of a sense of purpose can help you live longer. One of the silent sufferings that people go through comes from the feeling of purposelessness. When people live without clear objectives and long term goals they intend to achieve, it can be excruciating.
Many people slip into depression because they feel they are not needed in society. Studies have found that finding a direction for life can promote positive aging and help you live longer. When you achieve this purpose, or if you achieve it at all has no bearing on how long you live. The fact that you have an overarching goal that you are working on to achieve is enough motivation to keep you up and running.
Your choice of a partner matters
Even though the divorce rates are steadily increasing, the effect of marrying the right person can ripple throughout your life. Imagine a man who was going through some rough times. He was an investment banker in New York City and was making a lot of money annually, but he was always stressed.
It was until he met the woman who he eventually married that he started to have a semblance of what it meant to live. The marriage was the catalyst he needed to turn his life around. His wife was a partner, helping to keep him in check and forcing him to take breaks as there was more to life than work. Upon digging deeper, the man had self-esteem issues and used work to mask it.
With the help of his wife, he was able to overcome these issues and improve the quality of his life. While this example is a mere product of imagination, such cases are pretty much real.
Manage your stress levels
While work is important for our daily survival, stress isn’t. Stress is a danger to long life. It can come from any endeavor: work, family, relationships, and even unmet expectations can all cause us to become stressed.
Stress management is key for longer living. A great way to reduce stress is to remind yourself that you will be fine no matter what happens. Avoiding stressful situations or giving yourself breathers to refresh are highly recommended practices for reducing stress.
Stay optimistic
Optimism is an integral ingredient for long life. Psychologists and researchers have long provided evidence that people who have a more positive disposition towards life tend to live longer than those who go through life with a negative outlook. With optimism comes the desire to keep going.
Many people who fall seriously ill and make it out alive often speak of how they just didn’t want to die. Staying positive can work wonders in your life. It isn’t just a mantra that people like to talk about as research has supported its relevance in healthy living.
Exercise regularly
You are never too old or too busy to exercise. This is because exercise goes well past running on a treadmill in a gym. If you want to live longer, you need to exercise your body and your mind. How does one exercise their mind? One can do so by reading books, solving crossword puzzles and doing some mathematical calculations without the aid of calculators.
There are various ways to exercise your body without paying a gym instructor. Jogging around the block during the weekends is enough to keep you moving. With exercise, it isn’t about how rigorous your routine is, but it is about how consistent you are. Besides, you’re trying to be healthier and live longer, not trying to win the title of the world’s strongest man.