Living Life with A Purpose

When I first heard the word “Ikigai’ I wondered what kind of word is this. It was intriguing. I had seen many friends mentioning about it while discussing books on social networking. I had a word with my senior about it who shared some videos and they were really interesting. This motivated me to read the book “Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life “written by Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles.

Ikigai means realising meaning or purpose of life. It is our reason to live. This book explains the importance of finding something to do in life which gives us happiness and satisfaction. If this activity translates into source of livelihood too ,we can easily get into flow. To be in flow is important to live a happy and gratifying life. When we have purpose in life we get a reason to wake up every day with zeal. This is very important to live long.

The authors have researched in detail why the people in Okinawa (Japan) live so long .The primary reason is finding purpose.Other reasons include staying active, leaving urgency ,eating moderately instead of stuffing ourselves, having good friends, exercising regularly, being cheerful, being grateful, being connected to the nature, living in the moment .Also it highlights how they believe in the importance of living in community, teamwork,making contributions for common goals, being supported and trusted.

This book is must read for those who believe in purposeful living, those who believe in following passion over profession. We cannot stop earning livelihood but we can try to align our passion with profession. Living a good quality, healthy and happy life is everyone’s dream and this book can definitely be a guide for the same.