5 More Wandering Wonders

As I continue to declutter my mind, a few things I have been thinking about:

ikigai – is loosely translated from the Japanese as “your reason for being.” It is the intersection between your passion, mission, vocation and profession. If you are in balance across these four elements, you have found “ikigai”. A few of us just opened a winter lodge in Akakura, Myoko in Japan. We decided to call it ikigai lodge as this philosophy encapsulates what we are trying to achieve. I’m here at the moment and can’t help but think that we absolutely nailed this. The combination of great people, phenomenal snow, a welcoming and warm culture and smiles all around us confirms this.

We all need to find our reason for being, what gets us out of bed in the morning, what keeps us moving, what we can do not only for ourselves, but importantly for others. Look out for your ikigai and find this balance in your life.

The Triangle – whenever I find myself giving my teens some unsolicited advice (all too often), the triangle comes up as a standard. It kinda goes a bit like this,

“Remember, whatever you do, commit to it. Give it the respect it deserves. And do it with pride. You owe that to yourself and possibly to others. Be proud of who you are, what you stand for, what journey you have followed and are now following. Then, get it done. Execute. Words mean little if there is no follow-through.”

Hope it sinks in one day.

You can lead a horse to water… – speaking of teens and advice, I have been using this idiom a fair bit lately. When they do happen to ask for advice and you give them some, why do they choose to ignore it? Just looking for a sounding board? Looking for a bit of a stoush? Wanting some real dialogue and troubleshooting?

99% of the time, they do the opposite (or what they had already intended to do) and wonder why it turned out the way it did. Although very tempting, “I told you so” is not the correct answer. Biting your tongue and accepting this is part of their growing up, definitely is.

My Way – is a great song by Frank Sinatra and currently, a life philosophy undertaken by many. I love the concept of independence of thought and actions and up to a point, following your passion, but “my way” has to be more than just about “me”. A complete life is full of “me” and “others”. I cannot do it alone. I need to think of others. I need to help others. I need to think about the consequences of my actions. I need to do the right thing. By all means, do it “my way” but remember that it is really more “our way.”

Happy 2019!