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にほんブログ村
Hello there, this is Yasui, a solo president running a company that mainly inspects high-pressure gas facilities.
You know, just when you feel like you’ve taken one step forward, that next step often doesn’t come so easily.
Moving forward steadily—it sounds simple, but it’s actually one of the hardest things to do.
The other day, I went out for drinks with an old friend of mine, someone I’ve also worked with professionally.
He’s a second-generation president who took over his family’s business.
He’s quite an interesting guy. He hires people that make you think,
“Wait, seriously? You hired that guy?”
But in his mind, as long as he can picture that person working well in his company, that’s enough reason to bring them in.
He often says something that’s stuck with me:
“I don’t want to live too long.”
He doesn’t want to burden his kids by staying alive through illness or frailty.
He says he’d rather leave them with resources than have them spend it on keeping him alive.
It’s an understandable view.
Of course, there are people who live long despite unhealthy habits,
and nobody can really predict when they’ll go.
And just because someone gets sick doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll automatically become a burden.
Yes, illness can bring financial, physical, or emotional strain—but those vary by situation.
Even so, if your family wants you to live,
then no matter what your own will might be, I can’t help but feel that you should live.
People’s ways of living, their values—they really are all over the map.
As for me, I used to think, “I want to live as long as I can.”
But when my grandmother passed away at a very old age,
it made me think deeply about what “living long” actually means.
It’s not really something I can—or should—put into words,
but it made me realize this:
How you live, and the way you’ve lived—that’s the essence of a person.
You have to have a clear sense of that.
Each of us has a kind of “core” inside.
That core is what gives color and texture to the canvas of our lives—
and that’s what makes each person’s life uniquely their own.
These days, it feels like many people are just being swept along by the current of society.
But you have to live with intention.
Drifting aimlessly won’t get you through this era—it’s becoming too tough for that.
Thank you for reading.
See you again next time.
