Awakening Your Ikigai Quotes

A man is like a forest; individual and yet connected and dependent on others for growth.

Just possibly, ikigai makes a Peter Pan of all of us. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Let us all be twelve years old! Youthfulness of mind is important in ikigai, but so is commitment and passion, however seemingly insignificant your goal.

Ikigai resides in the realm of small things. The morning air, the cup of coffee, the ray of sunshine, the massaging of octopus meat and the American president’s praise are on equal footing. Only those who can recognize the richness of this whole spectrum really appreciate and enjoy it.

There is no absolute formula for happiness—each unique condition of life can serve as the foundation for happiness in its own unique way. You can be happy when married with children, or when married without children. You can be happy when you are single, without a college degree, or with one. You can be happy when you are slim, you can be happy when you are overweight. You can be happy when living in a warm climate as in California, you can be happy when living in Montana, where you have severe winter conditions. As a sumo wrestler, you can be happy when you make it to yokozuna, or you can be happy while remaining one of the underdogs all your career, doing small chores, never giving up.

Isn’t it interesting how an element , which might not be appreciated by itself, turns out to contribute to the overall quality when blended with elements of different characters? It is like the essence of life itself. The complex interaction between various elements in an organic system makes life robust and sustainable.

At a certain point, a casual observer might feel that these pursuers of perfection are going over the top, and that the effort is too much. Just at that moment, something miraculous happens. You realize that there is actually further depth to the quality you are pursuing. There is a breakthrough, or the production of something completely different. With the creation of a new genre of products, a brand new market emerges, in which people are prepared to pay premium prices for qualities previously unimagined.

The Japanese do not need grandiose motivational frameworks to keep going, but rely more on the little rituals in their daily routines.

Di sebuah dunia tempat nilai kita sebagai seorang manusia dan harga-diri kita utamanya ditentukan oleh kesuksesan kita, banyak orang meng­alami tekanan yang tidak diperlukan. Anda mungkin merasa bahwa sistem nilai apa pun yang Anda anut hanya akan bernilai dan dikukuhkan jika ia terwujud menjadi prestasi-prestasi konkret—sebuah promosi, contohnya, atau investasi yang menguntungkan.