"Ohayou!",
"Konnichiwa!" and "Konbanwa!" to everyone. Used Japanese greeting as this topic has been taken from book “IKIGAI” written by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles and it is a Japanese concept.
This post is dedicated to the people who belong to an especial category explained in the next line. You might be thinking “Who dedicate the blog/post/stories etc”, is the author of the post weird? Yes, people are weird/complicated, and I am also weird. Weird is one of the most fantastic words humans have come up with. It is neither a fully
positive nor negative term. (what to know from where I got this information, read or refer to the book “The Rudest Book Ever”, Shwetabh Gangwar has a whole chapter which explains “People are Weird” which even I agree).
Being a weird person, I am
dedicating the post to special people who never realize why the person near to
them or next to their door keep on doing the same thing every day and never get
bored of it. I am also dedicating this post to an extraordinary person whom I
know from more than a decade, just making sure that person read this post and
understand why I do some activities on a regular basis. I don’t know when and
how this post will get flashed to the eye of that extraordinary person, but I
believe and have faith in God that someday that extraordinary person will surely
read this.
How
do I got to know about IKIGAI
My
journey of self-improvement is not very old, it is less than a year, though I
had few self-help books from 2 to 3 years, but never read a full non-fiction
book completely. I got to know about IKIGAI from one of the best self-help
books written by Gaur Gopal Das, “Life’s
Amazing Secrets”. A quote from this book – “To find your purpose in Life,
you must go on a Journey of Self-Discovery”, while explaining about
Self-Discovery the author explains to find purpose in life you should know your
IKIGAI.
IKIGAI and story of dying woman
Ikigai has no direct English translation, but is understood to mean ‘a reason to live’ or having purpose in life. It comes from Japan, the country with the highest number of the most elderly people in the world. The island of Okinawa which is in Japan has an average male life expectancy of seventy-eight and an average female life expectancy of eighty-six!
Story
In a small village outside of Osaka, a woman in a coma was dying. She suddenly had a feeling that she was taken up to heaven and stood before the voice of her ancestors. “Who are you?” The Voice said to her. “I am the wife of the mayor,” she replied. “I did not ask whose wife you are but who you are.” “I am the mother of four children.” “I did not ask whose mother you are, but who you are.” “I am a school teacher.” “I did not ask what your profession is but who you are.” And so it went. No matter what she replied, she did not seem to give a satisfactory answer to the question, “Who are you?” “I am a Shinto.” “I did not ask what your religion is but who you are.” “I am the one who wakes up each day to care for my family and nurture the young minds of the children at my school.” She passed the examination and was sent back to Earth.
The next morning, she woke at sunrise, feeling a deep sense of meaning and purpose. She tended to her children’s lunches and planned fun lessons for her students that day. The woman had discovered her ikigai.
According to Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist from Toyo Eiwa University, the word gai originates from the word kai, which translates as shell.He says that in the Heian period (794–1185) shells were considered extremely valuable.Therefore, gai now means to have ‘value in living’. If we split the ikigai : iki referring to life, and kai, which roughly means the realization of what one expects and hopes for.
According to Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist from Toyo Eiwa University, the word gai originates from the word kai, which translates as shell.He says that in the Heian period (794–1185) shells were considered extremely valuable.Therefore, gai now means to have ‘value in living’. If we split the ikigai : iki referring to life, and kai, which roughly means the realization of what one expects and hopes for.
Other meaning of IKIGAI –
Your reason for being, encompassing joy, a sense of purpose and a feeling of well being.
The happiness of always being busy or engaged
The happiness of always being busy or engaged
How to find the purpose of life
i.e. your IKIGAI
According to this concept, to find purpose in life,
you must answer four basic questions or The
Four Elements of Ikigai –
- What you Love (your passion)
- What the World Needs (your mission)
- What you are Good at (your vocation)
- What you can get Paid for (your profession)
Finding balance between the
four areas may be the route to having a life that one looks forward to living. It is believed that
discovery of one’s ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life. It is also
referred to as “a reason to get
up in the morning.” “a reason to jump out of bed each morning.”
Ways to discover/find the reason
to life
Start acting on two things.
1) Love what you have to do. Focus on those
parts of your job which you love to do.
2) Make time in life for what you love to do. Start
adding conservation and the environment into your life.
What is Your Ikigai?
Use the concept of Ikigai to find that sweet spot where your gifts, skills, passions, and values align.Take a moment to draw your own version of the overlapping circles of the ikigai symbol and consider the following:
Use the concept of Ikigai to find that sweet spot where your gifts, skills, passions, and values align.Take a moment to draw your own version of the overlapping circles of the ikigai symbol and consider the following:
What do you Love? What aspects of your life bring you into your heart and make you come
alive?
What are you Great at? What unique skills do you have that come most naturally to you? What talents have you cultivated and what do you excel at even when you aren’t trying?
What Cause do you believe in? What breaks your heart or pulls at your gut? What change would you most love to create in the world? What would you give your life for?
What do people Value and pay you for? What service, value or offering do you bring, or could you bring, that brings real value to others? Something people need and are happy to pay for or share some value in exchange?
Break down the ten rules that can help anyone find their own ikigai.
What are you Great at? What unique skills do you have that come most naturally to you? What talents have you cultivated and what do you excel at even when you aren’t trying?
What Cause do you believe in? What breaks your heart or pulls at your gut? What change would you most love to create in the world? What would you give your life for?
What do people Value and pay you for? What service, value or offering do you bring, or could you bring, that brings real value to others? Something people need and are happy to pay for or share some value in exchange?
Break down the ten rules that can help anyone find their own ikigai.
1.Stay active and don’t retire
2.Leave urgency behind and adopt a slower pace of life
3.Only eat until you are 80 per cent full
4.Surround yourself with good friends
5.Get in shape through daily, gentle exercise
6.Smile and acknowledge people around you (A cheerful attitude is not only relaxing, it also helps makes friends)
7.Reconnect with nature
8.Give thanks to anything that brightens our day and makes us feel alive.
9.Live in the moment (Stop regretting the past & fearing the
future, Today is all u have, Make the most of it)
10.Follow your ikigai
