As I sat on my suede blue couch watching Ben Stiller in the movie, “The Heartbreak Kid,” get peed on by his loony wife to subside the sharp pain of jellyfish stings, for some cosmic reason I started to think about my place in the universe i.e. what is our place in the universe? I do not know what prompted me to contemplate about the significance of my cubicle-sized life in relation to the grand scheme of things in the exponentially increasing night sky, but I welcomed it.
I decided to write my thoughts down in an attempt to better understand my ideas. The only response that the little voice in my head could think of to this philosophical inquiry was not an answer, but rather a question: What is humanity’s purpose?
Subsequent questions probed my mind:
What gets us out of bed, energized about an eventful day? What is it that gives us hope to always strive for a better future? PB&J or Grilled Cheese?
All of these urgent questions will be answered in due diligence, if you seek them out. Maybe not at the end of this blogpost. Maybe not at the end of the day. But most definitely sometime during this journey of life. Lets hope for sooner than later. As for now let me entertain you with a short story from my own life.
My roommate and I had a conversation the other day that really set off bells and whistles in my Zen state of mind (I was feeling particularly Phil Jackson-like that day). I was with a group of friends along with my roommate. We were just having casual conversation, when the topic arose of how rich we would be someday, or rather, how rich we wish to be someday. Actually, I would like to thank Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars for gracing us with the summer jam, “Billionaire,” because it prompted our discussion on dreams of our hypothetical filthy rich finances.
The conversation started off amusing, mixed in with some wishful thinking as well as some overt confidence for good measure. Everything was going smoothly until my roommate proclaimed, “I think I’m going to stop working [as a neurosurgeon] if I ever become a multi-millionaire.” Hmm class, what seems to be the problem with this statement?
…All of the above!
I know he didn’t mean that he wanted to sit on his ass for days upon days until his calf muscles stopped working all together and there was a permanent impression of his buttocks left in the sofa cushion. He probably meant he wanted to do something productive with his time like travel the world. But, I’m still going with the former just for shits and giggles.
In response to my roommate I told him that there is an island off the coast of Japan called Okinowa, where the majority of the population has shown to live over one hundred years old. That’s not the surprising part. Not only do most of the people live over one hundred years old, they also stay very active at that age. One of the reasons that is linked to this increased time of life is the concept of Ikigai, which literally translates to a reason for being or a sense of purpose. Neurosurgery, for my roommate may as well be his Ikigai because it is what pushes him towards excellence day in and day out.
And even now as I sit in my Forensic Anthropology class learning about identifying dead bodies and analyzing pictures of maggots decomposing some dead shell of a person, that life is way too short to let money get in the way of your livelihood, your passion, and your Ikigai.
Whoever thought too much money could kill happiness?
Well, haven’t you heard that too much of anything isn’t good for you?
I am not saying flush your Benjamins down the toilet. If you do become a multi-millionaire or financially stable, for the rest of you grounded in reality, do not settle for the couch. Do whatever it is that you believe in to give you purpose. Because at the end of the day; at the end of your life, your wallet, your bank statements, and your yacht will lay motionless, but your passion for what you believe in will carry on as your legacy.
Oh and PB&J always wins.
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* Look out for my future post on Ikigai and the TED video on How to Live to be 100+
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
GREAT post. I’ve never heard of the ‘Ikigai,’ but it makes a lot of sense. I’ve been a good bit of thinking along these lines recently. Let’s chat when I get back to the US. Heading to the airport in a few hours….see ya soon!
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Hey Josh, its been a while man. We will definitely hang out soon. As for Ikigai, I actually learned about it from the talk that Dan Buettner gave at a TED Conference. You should check it out at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ydy7whv. Have a safe flight man. I’ll see you soon!
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