M01.14 Are You Hitting the Snooze Button On Life?

Hikikomori is a name they use in Japan for a person who won’t leave their home, who will not venture into the world. These people can spend years living at home, often in their bedroom, even refusing to speak. It is an epidemic problem in Japan that touches most people. I have known of several, both through my family connections and through BodyChance Japan. A Hikikomori may start life as a “refuser” A refuser is a school aged boy or girl who “refuses” to attend school. There are so common these days, they gathered their own label. School life, as it is in many countries these days, is especially harsh in Japan. I watched my eldest daughter being crushed into silence (but never submission) by the system she lived in, until I whisked her away. And her school was a one of the brighter ones – no-one suicided there, something that is horrifyingly commonplace amongst school children in Japan. I say all this, because hikikomori is the inverse of having passion and purpose; of energetically rushing into the world full of joy, hope and promise. This month is about motivation, about passion, about having a desire strong enough to literally propel you out of bed and into the world every day. Many people have no such experience. But this is a defining characteristic of a person on a mission to succeed. Are you on this mission yet? Today, we accept as “normal” the desire to want to stay in bed, to give ourselves more time to disappear into sleep. It is so commonplace that it seems natural to feel this way - it is strengthened with things like the “snooze” button on our alarm clock. Hitting the snooze button is a usually a hikikomori moment. It can be a declaration that I do not want to participate with the world that faces me once I awaken. How amazing that this is not amazing: it’s acceptance as normal, as commonplace. That moment of first wakefulness reveals a great deal about how your unconscious it relating to the life you have. How often do you get up, accompanied by the thought that you want to stay asleep? What kind of living is that? Can you imagine a 3 year old living this way? They manifest in the way nature designed us to be… A good litmus test for your life starts with noticing your readiness to awaken: literally from bed in the morning, and figuratively into the life you have. How many mornings do you bounce out of bed the second you open your eyes, impatient to waste even one second more on unconscious sleep? In my waking moments, when I remember, I listen to thoughts that are hitting the snooze button on my life. I stopped using alarm clocks years ago. I do not want to be prompted to wake up at my self-appointed time, I just wanted to get up. However, I still have an internal snooze button that I push for less than wonderful reasons. I am an art in progress, as you are too. There is nothing more important than the quality of the moment you have, for you will never be any where else. Ever. So what is your quality in now - and when does the hikikomori draw the blind on living, and when does purpose and passion shine through?