Living Step by Step in Search of Ikigai, Your Reason for a Joyful Life
One of the philosophies that shapes Japanese life is Zen, the spiritual root of living happily - expressed in the idea of "ikigai". The word comes from iki, meaning life, and gai, meaning worth or value. Ikigai, then, is the value of being alive.
A philosophy that invites us to appreciate the beauty of what is around us, and helps us find meaning and purpose in waking up each day. How might we live happily? Once we have found that meaning, life becomes happier: we feel our own worth, our hearts are content, we are filled with resilience, and we find it far easier to see the positive side of things and the way out of any problem.
You can start practising this idea with simple, everyday things, following these five principles.
- Focus on what is around you. Give your attention to one thing at a time, unhurried. Start with something simple - eating, sitting, standing, walking or working.
- Let go of the self, of thoughts, feelings and an oversized ego - the things that can quietly take the joy out of life.
- Breathe softly, close your eyes and let nature carry your mind - with the breeze, the sound of water, the line of the horizon - until you feel at one with everything around you.
- Look for the positive in whatever you find, like playing a game of hide and seek. It helps you take joy in small things - and small joys, repeated often, gather into something large enough to fill the heart.
- Stay with the present and with what is in front of you. Do not cling to the past or worry about the future, because no one can change what has been and no one can dictate what is to come. Take as much good as you can from this moment - the situation we can truly do something about is the one we are in right now.
Remember: the meaning of life is a choice, not a condition. And you - have you found yours yet?
