Ikigai (生きがい) is a Japanese word derived from ikiru (生きる) which means “to live”. It is usually translated as “reason to live” although in common everyday usage “gai” is often heard as “I like this.”

Therefore it can literally mean: “living like”.

In a country which averages more than 70 suicides a day, have a “living like” in your heart becomes pretty important. In Okinawa, where Japanese live well into their 100s, ikigai has been adopted as an everyday concept that prolongs life.

But is it only Japan that needs this?

When I was a desperate 14 year old teenager, trying to figure out the-meaning-of-me, I set upon a mini project which jolted my understanding of life. I started asking people – adults mainly – a simple question:

“Are you happy?”

Well, are you?

A surprisingly large percentage of people answer “No” to me. In Japanese terms, they had no like for living in their heart: things are wrong; people are wrong; I am in the wrong job; with the wrong partner; in the wrong home; I have not enough money, not enough respect, not enough love.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Not. Not. Not.

All the Nots tie you into the very life you want to escape.

It’s natural – and positive – to want to seek out more: to want to know more, feel more, learn more. That urge sits at the heart of spiritual progress, and yet circumstances around you can skewer that urge into a motivation to escape.

Are you going towards what you want?
Or are you running from what you don’t want?

This is a fundamental question you can ask your Self many, many times a day. Am I eating this food because I am hungry; or am I eating this food for comfort or to kill a little more time? How many actions do I take to make my day pass quicker; to alleviate my boredom or emotional state?

And yet, the urge to escape is also an urge to awaken – it can be turned around. How?

Ikigai. To like life.

How do you start to like life?

It sounds corny, yet when you analyse all the Nots about your life, it boils down to one thing: loving what you have. So start with this very simple question:

Right now, right here, in this very moment : have you got everything you need?

This is question about NOW. Before now, and after now – you’re not asking about that. A future can always paralyse your present if you let it. Instead, ask:

Have I got enough now?

As I explore this experiment I discover an interesting thing: I get “Yes” every time. And from there it is easy to celebrate. To rejoice that probably not only have you got everything you need right now, you most likely have MORE than you need right now.

Celebrate that!

Ikigai.