By Hector Garcia Puigcerver,  Francesc Miralles.

It’s a long time since ever I wanted to read this book. For it said, it’s the Japanese Secret to ‘Happiness’ and long life. Nevertheless, I was also drawn to the lovely book cover and had such good vibes to get started with it.

About The Book

Japanese Philosophy is always interesting. No wonder, I was drawn to this. I read the translated version. This book talks with specific references to the small town in South Japan – Okinawa. It tells about what is so special about this place where in we would find the most centenarians. It dives deep further to reveal what has worked well for the inhabitants that has resulted in a healthier lifestyle, happier days and longer life.

This is about a macrocosmic outlook towards life and the approach we take, that would help us in tackling our mundane atrocities of this digitized and highly-competent era.

Special Highlights

I liked the references to Thich Nhat Hanh’s philosophy and Frankl Viktor’s words. This book covers various aspects that shape our lives. It discusses how small things contribute to the result. There are mentions of how meditation helps, also talks about how to deal with unfavorable circumstances and how to be ready to face them. The concept being ‘negative visualization’. Negative visualization has been one of the greatest takeaways for me. It means to anticipate the worst when situations go out of hand, so that we are prepared to deal with them. The overall theme of this book is ‘finding the purpose of our lives’. I think this is important and this book would make you ponder upon it. It is when we find our true purpose and calling, we could say we found our ‘ikigai’. It also mentions the diet that has also helped the Okinawians to live healthy and longer.

About The Author

I read the translated version but must say that each line has been written in a simple way and to the point. And hence, the flow is easy to go with and hence, comprehend easily.

Motivation To Read

I can think of the below;

• An exclusive interest in philosophy.
• The will to learn and improve our outlook towards life.
• To know there is no wonderful secret to a long and happy life, it’s in our approach and perspectives.
• Know a little more on the intriguing Japanese culture and what makes them so interesting.
• To know what contributes to a good life and what does it mean to lead a ‘good’ one.

Few Noteworthy Quotes

Ikigai – translates to the happiness of ‘always being busy’.

It turns out that one of the secrets to happiness of Ogimi’s residents is feeling like a part of a community.

Having a clearly defined ikigai brings satisfaction, happiness and meaning to our lives.

The keys to longevity are diet, exercise, finding a purpose in life (an ikigai) and forming strong societies – that is having a broad circle of friends and good family relations.

Being aware of the impermanence of things does not have to make us sad; it should help us love the present moment and those who surround us.

Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can truly be beautiful, because only those things resemble the natural world.

Catastrophes and exceptional circumstances offer good models for explaining antifragility.

If we adopt an antifragile attitude, we’ll find away to get stronger with every blow, refining our lifestyle and staying focused on our ikigai.

Life is pure imperfection, as the philosophy of wabisabi teaches us, and the passage of time shows us that everything is fleeting, but if you have a clear sense of your ikigai, each moment will hold so many possibilities that it will seem almost like an eternity.

Ending Note

Somewhere, each one of us is indeed fighting to seek his/her ‘Ikigai’ in life. This isn’t a vast book but is a good to keep referring once in a while.

Stay curious and do let me know what did you find and what made you realize!

Happy Reading! ❤

P S – Read more at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28787203-ikigai