Deep sense of purpose may be good for your health
There was a very interesting publication from UCLA’s Cousin Centre for Psychoneuroimmunology in July 2013 which showed that when you have a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life or work for the greater common good, that this then translates into a genetic expression of lower systemic inflammation and a strong expression of anti-viral and antibody genes.
Don’t forget that plaque in your arteries is a manifestation of systemic inflammation and inflammation is also found in Alzheimer’s disease, cancer states, osteoarthritis etc.
People that were just as happy as those working for more altruistic reasons but whose happiness derived from self-pleasure and purely self-motivation, did not show the same protective benefits at all. In fact their genetic profile showed, in comparison, higher inflammation and lower ability to respond to viruses and other infectious agents.
It is not yet known what the mechanism is however one possibility is that when we are seeking self-gratification only, then this is easily threatened by our environment and factors out of our control.
This can lead to the constant stress of having to monitor our environment to protect ourselves and our assets.
Those who work for others have often formed much richer personal relationships which can be protective in their own right against stress levels, and are less stressed by personal threats to their own sense of happiness as they are more focused on others happiness, whilst not neglecting their own.
You can read the original article here.
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