Live your life

Do you live with others or alone?

Most of us would say that we live with others by interacting. 

Then, do you care for someone’s opinions or evaluations of you? 

I would say YES when I was much younger. Of course, I cared for what others thought of me or how they saw me in many aspects. We can not deny people around us to live harmoniously with each other. We should respectfully accept what others say. 

Especially in Japan, where I am based, harmony is fundamental. 

From a very young age at school, we have been trained how to cooperate with others through the classroom and club activities after school. 

We rather like someone who has a good sense of harmony not strong individualism.

We like someone who always cares for somebody else rather than ones who do things they want to do freely without caring about others around them. 

The focusing group is such an essential factor to succeed in our society. 

Some say that we should ignore someones’ opinions how they see us and should do whatever they want to do regardless. 

However, it would be very challenging for them to do so in our society. 

Some say that others for you would leave you eventually, so it would be essential to focus on your interests and values rather than worrying too much about how others see you. 

To a certain extent, I would agree that others will leave you and eventually live by yourself in your long life. 

Recently, there has been some tendency that self-love would be critically important to living happily without worrying and caring for someone else. 

Is it true, though?

Wouldn’t it be more fun to live with someone else? 

Yes, it may be true that Japanese people see others too much and end up giving up things they want to do in their life. 

Instead of having no specific god in Japan, we believe that gods are everywhere, literally there are in our neighbors or somebody’s lives. 

Therefore, we tend to see others a lot how they feel about my behavior or decisions or even choices of my things. 

We are not allowed to buy stuff freely due to being afraid of how others may feel about the things they bought at the stores. They may think the clothes I want to buy may look too young for my age and so on. 

This may sound a bit exaggerated, but some feel so depending on where they live and how they live in Japan. 

I would say that even younger people tend to see others around them well and choose to live as same as others possible. 

They look the same. 

Homogeneity is such a great value in Japan. 

Life is a choice. We can choose a very unique and different life from most of them. 

If you can be happier by doing so, we may live individually without worrying about others’ eyes. 

Now I chose the life where I can live more freely rather than worrying about others too much. 

No Japanese companies gave me a chance to work after leaving my previous company due to my age. 

However, the American company gave me a chance to work for them. 

We don’t have to stick to our culture stuff so much. 

There are more opportunities in the world. 

I would say that English skills would be vital to help you live much more freely regardless of your background. 

It is without saying, but I appreciate the Japanese cultural virtue of living harmoniously with others without having severe issues or conflicts. 

Yes, it is also true that you should live your own life. The fact is nobody looks after you eternally. 

Others have no responsibilities towards your life. 

I think we can live happier if we value ourselves and our closest people.

Balancing how we see others rather than blindly accepting them would be a solution to living harmoniously in our society.