Ikigai

What gets you out of bed in the morning? The Japanese have a word called ‘ikigai’, which translates as our ‘reason for being alive’. The importance of finding a purpose for our life has long been recognised by philosophers and ‘doctors of the soul’. Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frankl (himself a Nazi concentration camp survivor) discovered that the search for deeper meaning is a powerful motivator, especially through periods of suffering. Existential psychologists have found that the greatest sources of meaning are healthy relationships, altruism, achievement, creativity, pleasure and religious faith or spiritual beliefs.

— Wayne Visser

From Purpose Inspired: Reflections on Conscious Living, Volume 4. Buy on Lulu ↗