Worry causes stress and anxiety leading to an imbalance of the mind body and spirit and blockage to the energy system.
The best way to overcome worry is to accept that all of us are faced with difficulties and setbacks in our lives. How we respond to them determines how we ultimately lead our lives.
If you choose to respond negatively by getting upset and anxious towards one of life’s setbacks you have chosen to damage the balance of your mind body and spirit.
If you respond positively by accepting the setback as an opportunity to learn you can live a happier and more fulfilling life.
“Just for today I will earn my living with honesty”
What does this really mean?
My career reinvention success factor keeps revolving around being my most or best authentic self !
By adopting these concepts you will not only add balance but also life giving force energy back to yourself.
Each Reiki principle begins with “Just for today.”
Honesty means different things to different people. Many people feel it is fine to take home a few pens from the office, the company turn over millions in profit each year so they can afford to lose a few items of stationery.
While another person will judge the same incident as an act of theft and believe that anyone found stealing stationery should be dismissed and charged with theft and even prosecuted.
Everyone at some point is dishonest. You may not steal from another person or company, but instead steal from yourself.
For example if you a have a talent to help people and you choose not to then you are stealing from yourself by denying your gift.
You are also stealing from the people who could benefit from your talents. I wasting my time on meaningless pursuits such as watching television for hours each day and that was stealing from my sacred and special time on Earth.
Try to live your life to the best of your ability as authentically and honestly as you can. Honesty lives inside of you and doesn’t care about being placed where others can view it.
Finally, in your pursuit of a happier life I urge you to encapsulate the words from Michael Landon (the father in the television series “Little house on the Prairie”) in his last interview before he died prematurely of cancer. He urged us to “Live Every Second”.
Uncertainty is jarring. It stops you from following your dreams. It leaves you with no courage to walk the road you have always wanted to explore. And worst of all, it leaves you helpless and subjective to circumstances. Gradually, you start making up for inner peace by finding comfort in the cozy materialistic life you have weaved. But when your soul is suffocating; how much do you think you can hold up?
In my brief discussion with Suruchi Shah a life coach and entrepreneur, we explored various emotional and mental hurdles a person encounters during their self-discovering journey. One thing that inspired me to my core was the role of ‘Ikigai’ – the Japanese philosophy in transforming Suruchi’s and thousand others’ life.
Eager to learn, and share the knowledge what I found out, I dedicate this blog to ikigai and its role in achieving our goals. But, before we go further, do catch my exclusive interview with Suruchi Shah on my Instagram page. Needless to say, it will help you gather the courage to take the first step towards your dreams and how to mentally support yourself throughout your journey.
Ikigai for finding your passion
What is life like when you are not following your dreams? Probably mundane, unfulfilling. Each day waking up to an ear-piercing alarm clock you want to smash on the ground, peering through beady eyes and cursing the day ahead, how do you propose to change your situation. Why do we inflict so much pain on ourselves? Just because of fear of failure. It is downright sadistic.
It is our moral duty to keep ourselves happy. Work towards finding a reason to get out of the bed. And do one thing each day that makes you happy. At the end of the day, you would be able to answer your soul that you have done something that is taking you towards serenity.
Ikigai is nothing but finding that very reason. This Japanese art of living was formulated to help people find balance within themselves, connect with others and the world. It opens up huge possibilities for personal development. Ikigai emphasis on starting each day with positive thoughts. Switching between moments to chid away anything negative that stands between you and your ultimate goal. Simply put, it is not about how you finish your day; it is about a positive start.
Ikigai for finding courage within
Positive thoughts have a huge impact on our lives. They help you in creating a good mood and generate happiness for yourself and others. Each day when you wake up, no matter how cranky you feel force a good mood on yourself purposefully. It will motivate your body to work towards your dream the whole day and keep discouragement at bay.
It promotes focus. It will channel your energy, and allow you to take control of your mind and body to work harmoniously for what satisfies your soul. Happiness attracts happiness and sadness attracts sadness. A blissful life requires you to ignore the ruckus around you and enjoy the beauty of your goals.
Ask yourself, why are you in this world? What is the reason for being? What makes sense to you the most? Do you want to have a carefree life? or do you dream of becoming financially strong?
Find what makes you happy, what satisfies your soul. And don’t be afraid to set goals too high or too low. Just set an objective for being in this world and channel happiness and your efforts in reaching it. And your reason of being shall bestow energy, skills, ideas and ability to use them productively.
Ikigai for respecting your individuality
Right from the day we are born to the day we leave this world; we make connections with people. We engage with them to create emotional and physical bonds and in this course, we expect them to be understanding.
But mostly they are not. And you can’t blame them. Because nobody else is witnessing the battle going between your mind and soul. It is you alone who is going through the misery and know how disturbing it is. With this we come to two conclusions. One, respect people even when they are unable to understand you. And secondly, you don’t need their confirmation to get off that misery boat.
Ikigai encourages you to come of use to the world. It believes you have a special role in the community to play and you can create a positive impact. And, you can make a big difference in the society, just by helping yourself. Nature never gives birth to anything that is useless. The world needs you to realise your potential and work hard to reach your goals so that you can add to the greater good.
Ikigai doesn’t want you to think about yourself or have an opinion or belief about yourself. But it stresses you to find what you think about yourself in heart, body and mind. This alone unleashes infinite opportunities. Self-acknowledgement further protects you from making false assumptions about yourself and the world. It teaches you to respect difference in opinions and thoughts, meanwhile also respecting your own individuality.
Practicing Ikigai
Now that we have talked in length about what is ikigai, what does it require you to do, how does it help you in your entire life, here is how you can start practicing it.
Find what you love to do
It need not be your childhood dream, and it need not be something very realistic. It can be vague and you can redirect yourself later to change your goals again. Start by finding what do you love to do?
Scale it to a professional level
Do you see yourself enjoying what you love to do for a long time? What can you do to add value to it? How can you scale your present skills and abilities to reach pro level? Find answers to these questions.
Convert your passion into vocation
Financial uncertainties stop people from following their passion the most. For that, once you have found your passion, try to find vocation opportunities for your passion.
Add to the greater good
In the end it is all about how you can add value to yourself and to others. Most the time people leave this fourth leg of ikigai and fail miserably. It is very important that whatever you are doing should add value to not just yourself but to others too. Make it a mission. In the end ikigai is not just a personal development tool but a global philosophy.
Write us!
Thanks for staying till the end. I hope you loved to learn about Ikigai. Tell us if you knew about Ikigai already, or you have been practicing it. You can also share your experience and how it changed your outlook towards life and made you more positive in the comments below.
Shadow therapy or work is an illusionary web that the mind spins psychologically to create a veil of darkness .. We all have the veils of darkness ,don’t we?
Ever wondered why the moon is associated to shadow self and the Sun to light? (metaphorically, it symbolises the mother / psyche / subconscious mind) and Sun symbolises the father / will power / conscious mind.
Ever remember our parents telling us -“You are stupid”. “You are like that only.” “You will never change your habits”. Where did this come from? Probably from their parents? and whom did they pass it on to – us!
The moon draws energy from Sun and that’s where she gets her power from.
Similarly the darkness in our minds could be drawing power from our environment and soul conditioning / patterning, and the negative suggestions / statements and imprints that form the basis of the shadow self building up.
At times,it could manifest from self limiting beliefs or thought patterns …emotions such as fear, anger, uncertainty or being in the unknown zone or untrodden path.
The layering of the veil constantly influencing our minds , is that keeps us thinking we can never change ! We tell our selves that and we imbibe it in our belief systems and we become that ..
The works of Maa Kali (Goddess of Transformation) she symbolises change and when she enters your life – she awakens that truth or true nature within you, somewhere nudges you to connect to your true self / Authentic self ie divinity and power, confidence and drives transformation.
She prompts you to look at the shadows and accept and embrace the whole self ( Mandala )and see that truest potential – you are that ‘illumined self’ and darkness is a veil that keeps you in the comfort zone.
Too much introspection or inaction leads to depression in the mind, fear , illusion etc. That’s why I ask my clients- How do you know you are depressed ? It is dangerous to assume that psychiatric treatment is the answer to depression.
Do you recollect those darkest moments or shadow side of you? What did you do differently?
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