I just finished reading this book and I could not wait to share it with you!
As we get older, the format of our lives change, but that doesn’t mean that we have to slow down. That’s why this month at Third Age Mojo, we’re going to talk all about finding your reason for living. The perfect opener to that conversation is this beautiful book that unpacks the Japanese secret to a long life – Ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy).
Finding Your Art of Doing Something
What is ikigai? It’s the place where our passion (what we love), mission (what we hope to contribute), vocation (the gifts we have to offer the world) and profession (how our passions and talents can become a livelihood) converge, giving us a personal sense of meaning. It’s your reason for living, the thing that drives you.
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. Authors Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles wanted to explore this topic and see how it might be applied to our everyday lives.
So they interviewed the residents of a Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100 year-olds. In speaking with them, they soon learned that it was their ikigai that revealed the secrets to their longevity and happiness. It was everywhere! In how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives.
Discovering Your Ikigai
Japan has the greatest number of centenarians and many of them cite their strong sense of ikigai as the basis for their happiness and longevity. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire. They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy.
In this powerful book, Garcia and Miralles help you to unlock simple secrets and the practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness every day?
Want to take it one step further? You can even use their practical ikigai guide or use a bullet journal to help you on your journey to finding your own ikigai.
