What is the secret to happy and long life? Is it the healthy lifestyle or achieving wisdom through meditation and asceticism like the Buddhist monks? Or the answer to this age-old question is much simpler? A new video ad reveals the surprising secret – it’s having a purpose in your life.
What do you wake up for every morning? Is it your family, the work that you do, the smiles you see on other people’s faces? This is the question a new video ad for Nescafe asks and answering it may actually improve our lives. This is the ikigai concept, which in Japanese means the reason for which you wake up in the morning. The reason to live. Shot in Japan, the ad shows different people of different ages and fields who share what their reasons for waking up are. A visionary masterpiece, the video is beautifully made, capturing the amazing landscapes of Japan and the bits of life of ordinary people.
Or not so ordinary. In the city of Okinawa, where the video is set, people have the longest life expectancy in the world. The secrets to their long life are probably many and very different, but one of them is certainly the “ikigai”. The Japanese are known for being disciplined, concentrated and humble people, and their culture seems so distant, so exotic and different. But their ikigai, or their reason to wake up in the morning, is strangely familiar. It is what most of us wake up for every day – it’s the people we love, the things we enjoy, the things we have responsibility for, the goals we’ve set for us, and all the things we hold dear.
And it may be difficult to wake up in the morning sometimes, but it’s the purpose of your life that keeps you going, as working hard for your future is never tiring, as the video says. It couldn’t be. Philosophers have always struggled to find the meaning of life and their concepts have always sounded too distant and abstract. The video, however, shows that everything can be lot simpler. You don’t have to be a great thinker to know why you wake up for every morning. And although people in Okinawa are no different from any of us in any way, they realize the purpose of their life. They’ve answered this question and they know – after all, they have this amazing term in their language, the ikigai.
So, what is your ikigai? This is the reason why this ad is so amazing – it makes us discover the answer for ourselves. It inspires us to look differently on our lives and to find our reasons to be happy. And it certainly reminds us it’s much easier to wake up in the morning with a cup of hot coffee. Nescafe, probably the most recognizable coffee brand in the world, offers delicious coffee with a sweet, fresh scent that will wake you in an instant. What better way to start the day and to discover even more reasons to live? The video has already made its way to the Internet, but if you still haven’t seen it, watch it now and answer the question for yourself. It will definitely improve your attitude and help you cope with every obstacle on your way with ease.
