Tea Break Challenge, Day #2

Our choices are the sustenance of our behavior. It may not be immediately obvious, but choices are not only about what we choose to do, but perhaps even more about what we choose not to do. This is especially true when we have multiple good options to choose from. Take a moment to write a list of three tempting things you are actively choosing not to do today.

https://www.teabreakchallenge.com/messages/2

Comments

[Jean-Michel 🕵🏻‍♂️ Fayard]

There is a beautiful book on the japanese take on this: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Short version: your Ikigai (生き甲斐) is the thing that gives meaning to your life combined with the impulse with which you wake up in the morning. It's always personal, choosen spontaneously and acted upon willingly. It's an expression of your true self. Everyone has one. You may not know what your Ikigai his, but it's accessible if you make the effort to search it. And it's very worthwhile to make this effort.

My Ikigai: always learn new things and new skills.

1. Learning new things: I have always been passionately curious. If something piqued my interest, I could enter a rabbit hole of learning more and more and more about the subject. That happened on such a wide range of subjects that it can easily look incoherent from the outside. "So you are a programmer, speak 7 languages, play 4 musical instruments, dance a variety of things, talk a lot about psychology and economics and history and any number of topics? What binds this patchword together?". Answer: Curiosity.
2. Learning new skills: It's not enough to just read about things. I want to do new things. This came later in my life, after a long and intense depression. Depression as its core is the suffering due to the feeling of helplessness. Learning to do new things is my cure.