It's Sunday again and in my village near Krakow, it is accompanied by a gray, windy morning. I feel like pulling the topic of Sunday depression today 😉 But it will also be about the Japanese concept of IKIGAI.
Saturday seems to be the most beautiful day of the week. Because we are already free (from work), and the next working week is not yet approaching (which takes place on Sunday). And the closer to the end of Sunday (Monday), the more our energy pales.
Sunday depression - where does it come from?
Is it not that this is exactly how we divide our week: the waiting time for the weekend and the weekend?
And time is, after all, indivisible in nature, continuous. It flows the same on Monday, Saturday, and Sunday (on Sunday we only have a little less for ourselves, because we usually sleep longer - interesting 🙂 This is our Life. Our Life is the same every day, with the same opportunities to use every day.
And by keeping this division in our heads, do we help or disturb?
If we have dreams and goals to achieve, we look at time from a completely different perspective. Then we can't wait for Tuesday or Thursday - the day for which we have planned something important for us.
Goals give meaning to our lives. They are a very important component of our sense of happiness.
Because they strengthen the sense of agency, our inner feeling that we run our lives. Not someone else. Not a job (which we chose ourselves, but a few words about it later).
Our goals also extend beyond the divisions: 5 workdays - weekend, work - a long weekend, work - holidays, work - vacation.
They give life a much wider perspective, the ability to look down at our arrow of time, which is still moving at its own pace. Just like regardless of us, the temperature grows, no matter what scale is on the thermometer.
However, it is up to us what scale we choose. If we "calibrate" on the microscale 5 workdays-weekend - well ... I think we will suffocate. How can life fit in within 7 days?
Now imagine Monday morning. It's not actually morning anymore. It is "goddamn Monday". Because the morning is something good, something that is associated, for example, with aromatic coffee on the porch, peace, and relax-something we like.
Monday, we get up to work.
Is it not so that we often consider going to work a sacrifice, even a torment, for which we deserve a reward? With such an attitude, by definition, we will accept any requirements at work as a punishment.
The boss will be the embodiment of hated work. So how can you respect him or like him? I don't mean to say that all bosses are okay. There are many idiots.
In this way, I want to draw attention to how our deeply entrenched attitude can affect the perception of work and everything related to it.
Is it not that we are fed with the myth of a suffering hero (especially in Polish culture), a victim of circumstances who does not influence anything?
There are mythical "they" - those who rule this world. But it's also convenient because they can be held responsible for our frustration.
Do we learn to recognize our talents, set goals, and achieve them in any school, high school, or college?
Are our parents contributing to this negative pattern, instilling in us that to have a good life, you need to graduate from a good university and then find a good job?
What does it mean to find a good job?
Well-paid? And where is the relationship between our unique talents and the job we choose at the beginning of our journey?
There is a saying that hat a fulfilled person (and I would like to emphasize the important difference between the concept of a "successful person" and the concept of a "fulfilled person") is the one who is aware of his unique talents, realizes them in his life and gets paid for it.
IKIGAI Japanese philosophy of happiness
This is perfectly reflected in the IKIGAI concept, described, among others, in the book "Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life" by Hector Garcia and Francesco Miralles
How to discover your talents? How to choose the right job? Or maybe even: how to leave current job ?! These are topics for a separate large discussion. I will try to come back to them soon.
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