What is the secret to a long and happy life?
What if I say you can live longer by doing what you love to do!
Once, I read an amazing book called "Ikigai, The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life" and it was very inspirational.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means?your "reason for being." 'Iki' in Japanese means 'life,' and 'gai' describes value or worth. Your ikigai is your life purpose or your bliss. It's what brings you joy and inspires you to get out of bed every day.
While the traditional ikigai concept is about finding your bliss, the westernized version of ikigai is more about finding your dream career.
How can you find your ikigai?
Start asking these questions...
- What do you love?
- What are you good at?
- What can you be paid for?
- What does the world need?
If you have an answer that fits all questions, congratulations. You found your Ikigai.
Apart from living a longer and happier life, knowing your ikigai can help you:
When you know your ikigai and understand its meaning, you’re aligned with the work you’ve longed to do and the work the world needs you to do.
Let's look at a fascinating example from the book. Habitants of the Okinawa archipelago in Japan live longer than anyone in the world.
The islands have the largest number of centenarians (a person who has reached the age of 100 years) in the world, that’s 76 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants to be exact, three times more than anywhere else.
Especially, Ogimi is known for its slow pace, ocean views, community gatherings, personal vegetable gardens and residents who smile, laugh and joke incessantly. Fever chronic illness than most people, including cancer and heart disease, and their rate of dementia is well below the global average.
What do they do differently? What can we learn from them?
They eat well.
They eat a wide variety of food, an average of 18 foods each day and over 200 different types of food, in general. Furthermore, they eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day.
Grains like noodles and rice are the foundation of their diet. They eat more fish rather than meat. They also eat citrus fruit called shikuwasa. This fruit is part of every meal.
Food is served in small plates, and they stop eating when they are 80% full.
They move every day.
There is constant movement. They keep themselves busy with volunteering, social activities, gardening, and dancing. Some other activities they do are yoga, tai chi, gi gong.
Vegetable gardening is one of their favorite activities. In fact, most of the super-centenarians?own a vegetable garden and work on them every day.
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They go from one location to another only by biking, driving or walking. Okinawa is the only Japanese province without trains.
They maintain close, social relationships with their families and community.
These are the three things they found out from the study:
Here are the top 10 lessons we can learn from them.
1. Take it easy.
The rush is inversely proportional to the quality of life. As a proverb says: “Walking slow gets you far.” Time and energy gain new meaning when we leave the urgencies behind.
2. Surround yourself with wonderful friends.
They are the best elixir to dissolve concerns with pleasant talk, telling and listening to anecdotes that lighten the existence, asking for advice, having fun together, sharing, and dreaming; in other words, living.
3. Get fit for your next birthday.
When water moves and flows fresh, it doesn’t stagnate. Similarly, your vehicle for life needs a little daily maintenance, so it can last for many years. Besides, exercise secretes the hormones of happiness.
4. Always stay active, never retire.
He, who abandons the things he loves and knows how to do, loses the meaning of his life. That is why, even after having finished your “official” work life, it is essential to continue doing things of value, bringing beauty or usefulness to others, helping and shaping our tiny world.
5. Do not eat until full.
Also, in food for a long life, “less is more.” According to the 80% law, to preserve health for a long time, instead of cramming, eat a little less of the hunger we have.
6. Reconnect with nature.
Although most human beings live in cities, they merge with nature. We need to regularly return to it to charge the soul's batteries.
7. Be thankful.
To your ancestors, to the nature that provides you with air and food, to your life partners, to everything that enlightens your day-to-day and makes you feel happy to be alive. Take a moment of the day to say thank you, and you will increase your flow of happiness.
8. Smile.
A courteous attitude makes friends and relaxes the person. It’s okay to see what’s wrong. But don’t forget the privilege of being here and now in this world full of possibilities.
9. Live the moment.
Stop lamenting the past and fearing the future. All you have is today. Give time for the best use, so it deserves to be remembered.
10. Follow your ikigai.
Within you, there is a passion, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and pushes you to share your best until the end. If you haven’t found your ikigai, keep searching until you do.
Once you find your ikigai, there is really no reason to ever retire from it. The Japanese apparently don't even have a word for "retire." It's the not retiring from your purpose-driven life that seems to be the key factor of longevity and happiness on Okinawa.
"You need to find your ikigai in the little things. You've got to start small. You need to be here and now," Mogi writes. "Most crucially, you cannot and should not blame the environment for a lack of ikigai. After all, it is up to you to find your own ikigai, in your own way." Mogi also has some advice on keeping your ikigai. His five points are: focus on the details, accept yourself, rely on others, enjoy pleasure and stay present.
"There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end," García and Miralles write.
Or, great mythology teacher Joseph Campbell summed the more than 1,000 words of advice in this story into just three: "Follow your bliss."