#MyWordForToday is #Meaning

#MyWordForToday is #Meaning

"What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare."- William Henry Davies (1911)

I learnt this poem 35 years ago, as a 7year old girl in Primary School. How I still recall a large portion of it remains a mystery to me. 

But when I started reflecting on this theme "Meaning".... this poem came swimming back to my consciousness. 

What indeed is this life? If we care too much about the rat race of life, where is the time to smell the roses? Where is the time to be happy doing absolutely nothing? 

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us were furiously living life, from one meeting to another as was done in 1911. Running doggedly to meet a deadline at work etc. Suddenly, everything came to a grinding halt. 

All activities were shut down. No more busy, but being unproductive. We slowly went back to the state of affairs as described longingly in that poem I quoted above.

I feel like the reason we were all scurrying around in the name of work is that for many of us, our greatest fear is to live a life where you just die off like smoke.

I know this to be true for me. I have oftentimes woken up from sleep and tried to make meaning of my why. Why am I here? Am I going to pass through life without leaving any legacy? No impact? 

A life lived without purpose. Yorubas call this "a person who lived like a snake that slithers over a rock and makes no impact".

A snake that passes over a rock leaves no indentation or marks. It is almost as if he/she was never here.

Sometimes, there is a feeling in my soul telling me I am not in alignment with the universe. 

There is an aching emptiness that demands to be filled. I took to writing to fill this ache, but my soul yearns for more. (Hey look, I wrote a poem 😀).

Some people have found their whys and are living their best lives, while some of us are held back either by fear, or self-limiting beliefs. 

Some of these beliefs are cultural i.e. emanating from the cultural beliefs of our tribes. Some are just walls, we have over time built in our minds, in order to avoid crushing disappointments. 

If you are like me, wanting to impact your World, let us foray into the Japanese concept of Ikigai.

I'm fascinated by the Asians. They have dedicated a large portion of their lives, to studying life and its meaning. 

Ikigai is Japanese for "a reason for being".

The purpose for which we are here, it tries to help us find the true meaning for our being here on earth, and refers to a union of four essential ingredients of life.

I have classified these in the ways I can best relate. 

Passion: The things that light me up from the inside;

Gift: The skills and abilities that are unique to me;

Mission: How I can help enrich other people's lives using my passion and my gifts; and

Vocation: What the World can pay me for.

I would have fulfilled my Ikigai (my reason for being) if I can get all four to conjoin or intersect with each other.

Therefore, if you can find pleasure and satisfaction in what you do (passion), you're good at it (gift), you impact or enrich other people's lives (mission) and you're paid for it (vocation) you may have found your ikigai. 💃

All of these are scientifically proven to help one live happy lives. I remember reading about a lady missionary who came to a country in Africa, battled with Malaria and all sorts of diseases, but persisted. She died in Africa, in the arms of the children that she loved so much.

It didn't make much sense to me at the time, but now it does. She seemed to have found her ikigai. Doing what she loved in spite of all the difficulties.

You will notice that getting paid is listed last, I believe it is because money though important and necessary, will not make you happy if the other three components are missing.

Finding our ikigai might not be easy. It will take deep diving to the innermost parts of our souls and examining those parts we might loathe to go.

Also, I do not know if I have whetted your appetite enough to get you to want to understand your Ikigai. 

I am dedicated to ikigai-ing this one life that I have come, not as a " Sokoto Red Goat or Grass 😂 (at least they are fulfilling their purposes). I will give meaning to this life.

Leaving you with these words by Howard Thurman: 

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”

Namaste 🙏🏾

Bibireosefowora 💌