IKIGAI

( A Japanese short story. )

In a small village outside of Osaka, a woman in a coma was dying. She suddenly had a feeling that she was taken up to heaven and stood before the voice of her ancestors.

“Who are you?” The Voice said to her.
“I am the wife of the mayor,” she replied.

“I did not ask whose wife you are but who you are?.”
“I am the mother of four children.”

“I did not ask whose mother you are, but who you are ?.”
“I am a school teacher.”

“I did not ask what your profession is but who you are.”

And so it went. No matter what she replied, she couldn’t convince herself “Who she actually is?”

“I am a Shinto.”

“I did not ask what your religion is but who you are.”

“I am the one who wakes up each day to care for my family, and nurture the young minds of the children at my school.”

Then she PASSED the examination and was sent back to Earth.

The next morning she woke at sunrise, feeling a deep sense of meaning and purpose. She tended to her children’s lunches, and planned fun lessons for her students that day.

The woman had discovered her IKIGAI.