We are very often on a quest for real meaning of life. Whatever we do, we do not find happiness. We do everything initially with a josh, but we stop enjoying it after a particular point in time.But why? what’s the problem?
This book will give you all the answers you are looking for. I bet it will change you and inspire to break the cuff links that are holding you back to progress on your path of passion. If you ask me to define this book in one line, I would say,
“Ikigai is the recipe of happiness”
This book starts with an amazing proverb that holds the total essence of Longevity.
“Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years”
Yes, you need to stay active to live hundred years. But it doesn’t mean run like crazy behind everything with stress. It is staying active with a constructive passion,doing things you love. When you do things you love, even if you face challenges you will possess the skills to handle it.Since you love doing it, this battle between challenge and your skill is going to be very interesting.
This book has inspired millions of people throughout the world. You might think,Why it has become so popular? What is so special about this book? It’s very special because it talks from the point of real life experiences. It is not a thesis, but it is raw, real and authentic from the native people of Okinawa,Japan(the Island of Longevity). Now that we have talked a lot about this book, are you intrigued to know about how did this idea of writing such an inspiring book occur to the authors? Well, this post is all about that..
Meet the Authors
Héctor García was born in Spain and worked at CERN in Switzerland before moving to Japan, his home for 16 years now. In Tokyo, when he is not writing his next book, he makes a living in the IT industry. He is one of the authors of this wonderful book.
Francesc Miralles, Born in Barcelona, has written many best-selling books and received several prestigious literary awards.He has published extensively in the self-help, coaching and inspirational field. Love in Small Letters is his most famous and acclaimed book to date.
These two authors have read each others work but have never met each other. Through a mutual acquaintance they got in touch and met for the first time in a tiny bar. On a rainy night in Tokyo, they started their first discussion and never did they realize at that time, this is going to be a bestseller and the most translated self development book.
Then they met each other a year later and talked about Western Psychology. They understood from their discussions that the current trends in Western Psychology like Logotherapy has gone out of fashion and people are still search for the meaning of life. They are unable to find answers to questions like
Why do only some people know what they want and others are always in a confusion?
What is the expectation- Is it just to live longer or seek a higher purpose?
So this book that they are going to write, should address all these issues without any pitfalls. Now they have found the purpose of writing this book. But still they were not able to arrive at the solution. The conversations went on, where they suddenly discovered this mysterious word, IKIGAI(the happiness of being busy).
The concept of Ikigai took birth in Island of Okinawa in Japan the land of centenerians. Okinawa is a Japanese island that was bombed by Americans during World War II, wiping out 200,000 of its residents. But Okinawans now live better than others. Even many Americans have moved with their family to Okinawa and happily live there.
How do we know this?
Because while Japan itself has the highest life expectancy in the world (85 years for men, 87.3 for women) — in Okinawa, there are on average 24.55 people above the age of 100 for every 100,000 inhabitants (far above global average). And in Okinawa is a rural town Ogimi, with most centenarians (100 plus folk) per capita, and the world’s highest life expectancy. These people were not on their death beds or on respirators in hospital.They’re fully, mentally, physically active, going out about their day, like the best of us.
Finding the secret of Longevity
The authors were intrigued to find the secret of Longevity in Okinawa. They wanted to explore if it was just the diet and lifestyle or if it was Ikigai that was blessing them with a long and happy life. The search has started in finding the secrets of these centenerians.
They were exploring everything in that island and were trying to find if that was the secret of Longevity. They came across a fruit called Shikuwasa.
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This fruit is richly packed with antioxidants and Japanese include this fruit predominantly in their diet. Is this the magic fruit of Longevity? Or the pure water used in Moringa tea. Moringa tea is also packed with antioxidants and vitamins.
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Or is it Bunagaya(their mythological creatures) blessing them with long life?
The one thing that they commonly noticed in the inhabitants of this place is their friendly nature and it is incredible to see the land once destroyed by the most powerful bombs blossoming now with its flora and fauna.
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Through a series of interviews conducted, they found that their secret to longevity is
- Eating light(Fill your stomach only 80%)
- Doing moderate exercise
- Nurturing friendships(Maoi)
- Taking enough rest
- and most important of all it is their IKIGAI
This book not only gives you the secret of Longevity but also helps you with the tools to discover yourself. The concepts are surprisingly very simple to adapt as our lifestyle.
Conclusion
When once an audience asked Miralles, the co- author of this book , how to find Ikigai? His answer was very simple.
Well, He said, you could start with crossing out pursuits you don’t enjoy, and try out newer interests still. Or better still, go back to childhood and recall stuff you really loved doing in the most unfettered ways, when nothing else mattered. There you will easily discover your Ikigai!
From this book, you will learn that life is very simple to live. We complicate it with numerous unwanted thoughts and things. Once we take a deep dive towards connecting with our inner self and ask what really sparks joy in our life and then compare it with what we are doing currently, there we arrive at finding the problem and then use the tools in this book to find the solution. There you master the art of Longevity.
If you love this content, and you’re looking to buy a copy of this book click the image below.
To read the first chapter summary click here.
Have a happy and blessed life!!!
MommyReturns 