What is the secret to a happy life? I have been conducting programs on the law of attraction for the past two years. The first task is always to determine the goals. A lot of people have goals related to career, money, health, relationship, peace and happiness.
But I have found no one yet who says I want to live long. But then how to live long? What is the secret to living a long life?
But then, is a long life worth it? What if you live long and you are not happy? Imagine living till 80 or beyond and having a miserable and sad life. I have seen people who live long but are unhappy and also make others life miserable.
But what if we could do both? Be happy and live long enough. I didn’t know that was possible until I read the book IKIGAI by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. Ikigai is an international bestseller that tells you the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.
The people of Japan believe that everyone has an Ikigai – a reason to jump out of bed each morning, which brings meaning and joy to every day.
We all know that nurturing friendships, eating light, getting enough rest, and doing regular exercise are all part of the equation of good health but long and joyful life is possible through discovering your Ikigai.
When you discover your Ikigai it brings you satisfaction, happiness and meaning to your lives and this book helps you to find that.
Every one of us has to get up in the morning. But how many of us are happy about it? Many of us get up because we have to earn the payslip, we have a responsibility to someone or we have to clear the debts. There is a lot of misconception in the world. We are always being told that you have to quit your 9-5 Job and then only we can do something better with our lives. For some people, their Job is their ikigai, while for some, their responsibilities towards their families. I have seen people who do their work for a living to manage life and still have an ikigai that helps them to live a satisfying life. They do it after work or on the weekend. But it’s important to have an Ikigai.
The book is about the inhabitants of Okinawa Island in Japan where people live longer than people anywhere in the world. Spread over 9 Chapters, it tells you how to discover your purpose and turn your free time and work into a meaningful experience. The diet and the pearls of wisdom to live long happily is provided in the book.
One of the most important questions that everyone asks these days is to how to face life’s challenges without letting stress and worry consume you. Well, we all know that the answer is Resilience. But how many of us know to build a resilient life. We have to build resilience in our life because most of the time we get carried away by negative emotions when some urgent issues crop up. For the manifestation of the desires, it is required that you stay focused on the important things in life and not get carried away.
There are things that we don’t even want to discuss. Things we try to avoid. We always run the worst scenario in our minds. But we stop short of actually seeing what really will happen in that worst scenario? How can you get back on the journey if the worst hit you? How better can you do to pick yourself up? It’s always the person who is ready to face their worst fears who win what they desire.
A lot of us are obsessed with something. It may be an idea, a person, feelings, events, and thing. We don’t let go of this obsession even after its expiry and it consumes us. We hold it so tightly that we don’t even see the things clearly, not now and not in the future.
Discover your Ikigai, create your life, take risks, get rid of things that make you fragile and accept things over which you have no control. Appreciate your life and the beauty it has now for things to get much better.
This book is not just a guide to live a healthy, meaningful, long and happy life, but it also provides a realistic approach to live it. Take time and read it. It’s worth your time. If you are keen to learn more about Ikigai, check out this article What is Ikigai and how can it add meaning to my life?
