Image from Gapingvoid Design Group ©2022
Another day, another friend’s career ended prematurely.
The Wall Street Journal reported a while back that a majority of people over the age of 50 will have their careers end prematurely, either through a layoff or forced retirement.
Most of those will not achieve a similar salary when they land a job.
Yesterday I learned of a friend whose job was eliminated.
It happens. My own career didn’t end the way I had planned.
Because I had found my Ikigai, I was prepared.
Others weren’t so lucky. A close friend was devastated because a large part of his self-image WAS his job. I’m not sure, even three years later, he’s recovered emotionally.
My hope in sharing this is not to be a downer but rather to offer hope.
Life is more than work. We are more than our careers.
Ikigai is about experiencing your essence and purpose in harmony with whatever you do.
Living into my Ikigai is far more rewarding than anything I’d ever done in the corporate world.
Jobs will come and go.
Don’t get me wrong, I had some notable success and accomplishments.
I’d trade them all to have started this part of my life sooner.
This is such an incredible truth. I feel like this idea of identifying with your job or career is such an opportunity to teach youth. That is, life comprises so many facets, and yet most of us get sucked into spending most of our time on one facet, work. Learning to live life in a manner in which you're living what makes you feel most harmonious, while doing work (to live life) is a teachable opportunity.
The wise who built their houses on a rock ….. and the ones who built theirs on the sand ….