IKIGAI - Entry 1.0

Hello friend, are you seeing this picture?

What is the first thought that comes to your mind by seeing it? (Take a minute to think)

I see a boy in a black hoodie watching this immaculate skyline, the whole city from some 50th floor of a skyscraper. He is amused, excited, charmed, titillated and yet confused. He is trying to understand where does he belong. Isn't this something we all feel, trying to find our correct place in this big crowd called "Society". Believe me, this thought is more out of self-awareness rather than self-doubt. I believe there comes a stage in everyone's life where they ask themselves the following questions..

( In Life)

Who am I?

What is my Purpose ?

What is my Destiny?

These are the 3 burning questions I have been asking myself from the time I was old enough to understand how long or short life is, what it means to have a career or profession, what is it to be an Adult. It all comes down to what our life means to us.

There are two types of people in this case -

One, who find or pretend to find the answers to this very early in life and they tend to stick to their opinion and belief and follow the pre- determined path.

Others or the second ones, for them, it is kind of a life - long quest, finding these inspirations, these purposes and destinies, though all may not have the courage to accept and implement it (as they say it, it’s too late) .

Even I am thinking about these questions from last 6 years, not as a mid- life crisis :) , rather as a quest for striking a balance in life. I don’t know if you have had the same problem, But I think this is the biggest conundrum faced by most of the people in their 20’s and 30’s. To be true, there is no perfect solution or method for finding this out, you can be dead accurate or it can become a trial and error method for considerable amount of time.

Here’s one if you are interested.

Some time ago I came by this amazing concept, which seems to be the most feasible and rational way to explore our potential.

IKIGAI. 

(We do have to thank the Japanese for it.)

IKIGAI is known as the answer to all questions, a treasure map of sorts. It is believed that finding ones Ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to their Life. I could go on and bore you with a 100-page theory on this concept but it would be pretty easier to just read and fall in introspection with this wonderful Venn diagram below –

(Keep looking at it and thinking, 5 times, 10 times, till you see the beauty and the symmetry of it.)

It is all about what you love, what the world needs, what is it you can be paid for and what you are good at. The beauty of this is the clarity, precision and perspective it provides to a person, to people like us. However simple it may seem, on serious thinking it seems so mesmerizingly true and perfect in every sense. If you put your thoughts on pen and paper, you can actually find the ANSWER, your IKIGAI.

This whole thought is for every one of us, whatever age group you are from. It doesn’t matter that you are in your 30’s or 40’s and already have a profession. Because as we live in world full of examples, people have started and succeeded globally at businesses in their 60’s (Referring to KFC).

So please take some time to think about it (look at the bigger picture), because leading a content life is something which we all surely aspire for and rather than listening to useless counselors or money minded people, it seems rather a more mature approach (with the right research) to lead a wonderful life spreading love and energy to your family, the people around you and you yourself.

P.S: Next post will be a very special one on some character we all love and some new quirks will also be rolled out with it (Feel free to speculate about it in the comments section).