Longevity and Meaning

Source: Gerd Altmann/ Pixabay

Aging is a megatrend. According to World Bank data, the 65-plus age group represents on average approximately 10% of the world population but is significantly higher in Japan (30%), the EU (22%), Canada (19%), and the U.S. (17%) and, importantly, is growing rapidly.

Often when we speak of aging, we refer to longevity. Longevity is defined as the ability to last for a long time or the ability to live a long life.

If we define the longevity challenge as “How do I keep breathing until I am 100?”, then we will focus on the healthcare aspects of longevity with such follow-up questions as “How will I stay healthy?", “Will I be able to access the healthcare I need?” and “How will governments and organizations redesign healthcare to serve an exploding population of aging patients?"

If we define the longevity as a financial challenge, then we will focus on questions such as “Will my money last me until I die?” and “How will governments deal with the pension crisis and the infrastructure required by more and more older people?”

But just because we have saved money and are keeping physically healthy, this doesn’t mean we will live long and meaningful lives. As Viktor Frankl advised throughout his books, Man’s Search for Meaning and The Unheard Cry for Meaning, "even more people today have the means to live but no meaning to live for."

Why do we want to live longer lives if we do not live meaningful lives?

I strongly believe that we need to define longevity from the broader perspective of meaning. Many of the longevity challenges we face as we age can be traced back to our previous meaning challenges, the roots of how we lived in our younger years, and how modern society has been designed. Let me explain, using the three drivers of meaning presented in my book, The OPA! Way.¹

1. Are You Connecting Meaningfully With Others?

As we shift more and more to the digital, online world, we are losing the human connections that are vital for meaningful living. As more and more healthcare, commercial, and government transactions move online, we are disconnecting from our innate need to see and talk with other people. As society shifts to living in the suburbs in separate dwellings, in a car-driven society, and to shopping at big box stores, we are further separating ourselves from our neighbors and communities.

As many older people are struggling with loneliness and social isolation and are questioning where they belong and “who needs me?”, it is important to look at ways to restructure their lives to enhance their connections with others and, in essence, their humanity.

• How can we seek out more in person, face-to-face interactions to balance the many online transactions?
• How can we plan for multigenerational housing and senior housing with shared dormitories and community rooms?
• How can we enhance personalized home health care, along with other home, grocery, and transportation services?

As humans, we need to know that others are there to support us and, importantly, that we are here to help others. For example, yesterday I witnessed a cashier help an older women load her groceries into her small cart and walk with her across the road to her apartment building–a gesture that reminds me of our humanity as well as the growing needs of the aging population.

2. Are You Engaging With Deeper Purpose?

When full time work is no longer the primary source of identity, purpose, and social connections, older people still need to have purpose in their life, for each day as well as the larger purpose that will direct their lives for the next 5, 10, 20, or 30 years. Just filling our days with activities does not necessarily mean we will find meaning in our later lives.

• How can we encourage a future full of hope and possibility?
• How can we encourage older people to continue to make a difference in the lives of others by sharing their experience and wisdom? How can we better structure retirement jobs, part time work, and volunteer opportunities, and communicate these widely?
• How can we encourage lifelong learning, including with universities and colleges (who are facing enrollment declines with the youth population but are ignoring the senior population boom and the opportunity for senior college programs). For example, my mother liked watching educational programs on television so, together, we enrolled her in part time, in person studies at my university. Her spirit lifted every day she attended a class and interacted with my friends who often bought her coffees and made sure she found her way around campus. She benefited from having the purpose of completing a degree and we benefited from her presence on campus.

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3. How Are You Embracing Life?

When we don’t find meaning in our lives, we are left with a sense of emptiness or inner void which, in turn, can reinforce self-destructive thoughts and behaviors. Meaning is the energy or fuel that motivates us to achieve our full potential as human beings.

• How can we encourage older people to raise their vitality and energy levels and have positive thoughts about the present and the future?
• How can we embrace the challenges of aging with resilience and a more meaning-centric lifestyle?
• How can we maximize our time spent outdoors and in the sunshine versus indoors and in front of computer screens?

The longevity movement is putting the spotlight on many psychological, social, medical, and economic challenges but, most importantly, it is raising the meaning question. I believe the real question is “How do I find deeper meaning in my aging journey?”, not “How do I keep myself alive until I am 100?”