Don't Suffer - Live Life Positively - Learn!

How to deal with negative thoughts and feelings is the topic of the Aug. 16 issue of President, a Japanese management magazine. They reach out to a lot of experts and regular commentators, as well as marathon-monk and writer Sakai Yusai, a Buddhist priest, and others.

Yusai Sakai: The message I wish to convey is please live each day as if it is your entire life. If you start something today, finish it today. Tomorrow is another world. Live life positively.

In this issue, I like how President goes from 「悩まない」練習 Nayamanai renshuu (Don't suffer, see it as practice, or I don't suffer, I learn) to a feature about Zen meditation as a way to deal with stress. How to go beyond the regular, droll 9-to-5 routine - or, rather, 8am-to-19pm here in a city like Tokyo. If you have talent, it may be a different story. They suggest taking Sundays and Mondays off rather than the usual Sat-Sun routine, just to get a different perspective on life.　

こんな「心理テクニック」があったのか！Konna "shinri tekunikku" ga attano ka! (I didn't know there were these kinds of "mental techniques"!).

Why do we fall prey to negative emotions?

I suggest they should take a break from all the katakana!

メンタルデトックス (mental detox) is a new term I had never heard of before.

How about リチーミング (re-teaming)? Well, it is one of those key words that seem to take root in the "global" business community, then spread as katakana terms in Japan about five years later. Apparently, this is part of "Employee Assistant Program" that people working for very large companies need. There are now special "coaches" who get paid to deal with over-worked staff and help them get back into the fold, hrm, "team."

Work-life balance is another key term in katakana, of course: ワークライフバランス. Is equality between men and women in the workplace and at home a solution? Can a better work-life balance be a tool for a company to get an edge? Rather than life time employment, can other forms of work styles for talented people provide better models?

The way you live and the way you work should to be integrated with how your company makes a profit, but is that a solid enough foundation to make a balance between hard work and "soft" issues like your life a little more meaningful for you...?



Image of a brain that Does not suffer! from blogger Jun Takahashi.

The kanji are 遊ぶ　asobu (play, enjoy) and 休む yasumu (rest).

You get the picture of his optimistic management philosophy!