Tourist Information in Japan（３）BOOK

An essay  in a corporate publication titled "What Is the Purpose on Life?" contains a description of the mixed emotions the author feels on receiving the kind of New Year's greetings that contain letters outlining the milestone events that occurred in the sender's life over the past year:                   

  It is certainly true that obtaining a license, taking lessons, and being healthy can all be important factors contributing to a richer life.I understand, I do, and yet I cannot help wonderingーdo these people not hear the whisper deep in the soul that says, "You are going to die. One of these days, you will die"?...The children's school expenses need to be paid, I need to make a decent living, I want to play some golf, or go out drinking or take a trip now and then as a matter of pride. l fear that I myself will go on using excuses like these to put off consideration of the purpose of life, right up until the day I die.

Preoccupations like the children's schooling or leisure-time pursuits like golf or travel cannot stop anxiety from growing: "With death around the corner, what am l doing, devoting myself to this? What if I die without ever having confronted the meaning of life?" A decayed tooth that causes an occasional twinge in the early stages will, left untreated, end in sleepless agony.     

Our lives are a constant search for happiness, yet we are in a headlong rush toward the one place we fear mostーthe grave, There is no greater contradiction than this. Those who live only for the sake of living are, in a real sense, living with death as their goal. Although they may try to silence them, they hear the whispers deep within: "At the moment of death, all is lost. Yet somewhere, effort must have its reward!" "What if death comes suddenly, before I have time to prepare?" "What should be doing now?"      When we look straight at the future that awaits us beyond all doubting, we find ourselves face to face with life's greatest issue. 

English edtion

 " YOU WERE BORN FOR A REASON   The Real Purpose of Life" 

（Ichimannendo Publish, Inc.）

http://www.i-ipi.com/

Japanese edhiton
なぜ生きる
（１万年堂出版）
https://www.10000nen.com/