Change Your “Longitude”
Older people with strong emotional intelligence can and should serve as “emotional mentors” to younger people who are struggling to let go of their own emotional baggage. Clearer perspective on emotion also lends older people the vision to become leaders in the community, where decisions must be made based not only on one’s gut feelings, but on everyone’s demonstrated needs. Best of all, this kind of emotional awareness can renew lifelong relationships by allowing you to let go of meaningless grudges and locus on the positive, affirming traits of the people in your life.
Put together longevity and attitude and you get longitude. This kind of longitude may help you become oriented in life, but we are not talking about the lines on a map that let you know how far east or west of some point you are. We are talking about the territory defined by your mental approach to life. When you refresh your brain and break the hold that negative memories have over your emotions, you change your longitude. Finding your longitude is about locating what is most important to you in life and then observing where you are in relation to those things. In other words, you focus on what you value most, not on past disappointments. By choosing to let go of past pain and view life with a more positive, uplifting, joyful attitude, you will increase your longevity. Equally important, you will increase your enjoyment of life. Quantity and quality—for what more could anyone ask?
There are many randomized, controlled studies proving the link between a positive mental state and better health and longer life. One of the most thorough is a study that was published in 2002 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The work, completed at Yale University, tracked hundreds of adults over fifty for 23 years. It found that “those who had a positive attitude towards aging lived roughly seven and a half years longer than participants who were dreading reaching their twilight years. The apparent life-extending benefits of a positive attitude remained even after the researchers accounted for other factors that can influence longevity, such as health, gender, and socio-economic status.”
A positive attitude had an even greater effect on health and long life than maintaining low cholesterol or normal blood pressure. Of course, it may be that people with a positive outlook are more likely to take care of their health and suffer less from stress. But we think there is more to it than that. The mind has an extraordinary ability to affect the body, so why should it be any surprise that a diseased mind, riddled by anger, regret, fear, and resentment, should bring on the same disease in the body? In any case, the effects of improving your “longitude” are clear. As you can see. doing so is a conscious choice anyone can make at any time. It is never too late. Seeing the world with greater hope and kindness improves your health, clears your mind, frees your creative brain, and improves the overall quality of your life.