Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

by Héctor García

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

A donkey that is tied to a post by a rope will keep walking around the post in an attempt to free itself, only to become more immobilized and attached to the post. The same thing applies to people with obsessive thinking who become more trapped in their own suffering when they try to escape from their fears and discomfort.5

Happiness is in the doing, not in the result. As a rule of thumb, remind yourself: “Rituals over goals.”

We finally land our dream job, but after a little while we are already hunting for a better one. We win the lottery and buy a nice car but then decide we can’t live without a sailboat. We finally win the heart of the man or woman we’ve been pining for and suddenly find we have a wandering eye.