Ikigai translates to “a reason for meaning”
It consists of the two words “Iki”, japanese for “life, alive” and “kai”, japanese for “effect, fruit, worth”
Ikigai comes from the culture of Okinawa in Japan, and people live very long lives there. The value and meaning we are talking about is not connected to monetary wealth, but rather wealth in why we get up in the morning, spiritual and mental values..
Purpose is so very important, meaning, to be able to feel the fire and passion from within, don’t pour water on your dreams, nourish them well as a plant.. not too little sun, not too much, or in what direction does and will your plant flourish the most? Is that where you also are heading?
I just heard about Ikigai this year, it talks about how you will find worth and meaning by finding out the best combination of the following four areas:
What you LOVE to do
What you are GOOD AT doing
What the WORLD NEEDS, and
What you can be PAID FOR.
What you love doing and the world needs is called MISSION – what is your mission?
What you love doing and are good at is your PASSION – what do you feel passionate about?
What you are good at and can be paid for is PROFESSION – but do you have the one you love? You can feel useless if you are not satisfied here.
What the world needs and what you get paid for is VOCATION. But is it what you love and are good at? You can feel uncertainty, when you don’t know if you are where you want to be.
You can also feel emptiness, when you are not doing something that feels meaningfull, and lack wealth when you don’t find the combination of what you can get paid for…
In the spiritual world we talk about having <3, to find meaning from within. Does it make sense? I hope so. May you find what you are looking for. So when we look at being happy and successfull, we need to take the whole picture into consideration.
x
Inspired by a speech on the subject at “The Castle – co-working space”, wikipedia, Internet and my path