“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Maybe this was a typical question when you were a child, but I didn’t like that question.
I think I know why I didn’t like it and wasn’t too fond of that question. Adults who ask those questions expect certain answers, like how others answer.
Now, I’m working in a team translating the book “Flame of Hope, Share the Enlightenment!” from Japanese to English. And this book is about “How to be Happy.”
But also, this book gave me the answer to questions I’ve always asked myself.
“Who am I?”
“Where am I going?”
Actually, to be exact, this book didn’t give me a pinpoint answer but gave me a hint toward the way to find these answers—how to find them and where to find them.
When I read this book, I started to remember that when I was a kid, I didn’t want to be anything but cool. At puberty, I started comparing myself to my classmates, and started to get to know what my standing was; maybe I was not the shortest one but not tall either, not the skinniest but not big, not stupid but not smart. Therefore, I came to understand that I’m just an ordinary average kid.
I grew up with this “I’m just an ordinary person” idea, and I was OK with it, or so I thought. When I read about the concept of being happy presented in the Flame of Hope book, it was clear that this was never taught at school. And I realized that this coolness that I wanted as a kid doesn’t come from being admired by someone; it springs from within. And it is connected to being happy.
If you have had questions like mine, come to the “Flame of Hope workshop,” and you’ll find, on your own, the way to be happy.
I’ll explain more about this book and about being happy in life, in a future blog post. And I would appreciate it if you’d talk about these topics with your friends and family.
Kenchi Mogi
