How do I find purpose in my life? What is my Ikigai? What is the meaning of me being here? The questions are many, but the core is the same. As Alan Watts so beautifully said:
“We thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage, which has a serious purpose at the end. And the thing was to get to that end. Success or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after your death. But we missed the point the whole way along. It as a musical thing and you were supposed to sing or dance while the music was being played.”
Regardless of your believes, you find peace when you are able to enjoy the dance with no expectations of what is next on the journey called life. Now this sounds easier that it is, and I see this as one of mankind biggest struggles. Through all our social structures today we are taught to work hard now and harvest the fruits from it later. All the way from first grade, to secondary school, to high school, to university, to your first job, to the great manager position, to your retirement. And then, when you are retired and tired, we should stop and enjoy the dance and do all the things that you all along longed to do with your life and your time here on earth.
I was recently hiking in the alps, and after a few days I realized that I was always striving to see what was behind the next bend, or in the back of my mind worrying if I missed out on another spectacular hiking path that everyone else know about. My mindset hindered me form enjoying the current trail that I had chosen for the day, and challenged my ability to enjoy the present. Instead, I was moving into a mindset of “fear of missing out”, and a belief that the greatness of the day was always present in the future or — behind the next bend.
These negative thought patterns are very normal and easy to fall in to. Our brains are programmed to see the negative and create a pessimistic view situations — this is a huge gift as it is this programming that has kept us alive for so many years by seeing and hindering dangerous situations before they occur. But in a safe situation, we can teach the cognitive mind to take over and help us move to a more positive view on the situation, and on life 0 to bring you back to the present moment, and enjoy the beautiful hiking trail that you choose for the day. Let’s support each other on our individual paths and remember to enjoy the dance together.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver
