Ikigai,
A Japanese word comprising of Iki meaning life and Gai meaning value.
According to author Dan Buettner Ikigai is cross-section between your values the things you love to do and the things you are good at it's not necessarily just your job though it's much broader than this.
It could be a hobby or your family or a pet or traveling.
It won't give you value in your life that makes your life worth living it might not be just one thing and it might change throughout your life.
It will grow and change with you you might not have discovered what your Ikigai is yet but one thing that would help you is practicing mindfulness.
Mindfulness is about paying attention fully to this moment,
To the now fully experiencing your life in this moment.
What is here for me right now.
Whether that be paying attention to the breath to the thoughts or to any physical sensations we are paying attention to our actual experience right now.
Mindfulness is not just about sitting still for a while and watching our breath though it is about developing a lifestyle of paying attention to the details in every moment of our lives so that we fully experience our lives our moments.
When something is known as Hakkanai in Japan it is something that is considered beautiful because it can only be enjoyed for a very short time it is fragile and impermanent as are our moments.
We can never live this moment again.
What is your experience of your life in this moment?
Close your eyes if you wish what do you hear?
What do you smell?
What do you notice within your body?
Within your mind?
What can you feel against your skin?
That moment is now gone.
You can never get it back never relive it.
So what about the next moments?
Can you get outside and fully experience what is there for you?
Maybe stand and look at a tree or a flower or the sky or go stroke your pet and fully experience that how you feel about them,
How they feel about you go play with your child,
Fully immerse yourself in what they want to do or just enjoy a cup of tea but sip it slowly,
Savour it taste it,
Enjoy every second of that cup of tea and just maybe in the stroking of the cat,
The staring at a leaf the playing with a child or the sip of a tea you may experience Ikigai the value of your life in this very moment.
Thank you.
