Posted by Click here to get a free newsletter Zen and a Way of sustainable prosperity: Balance, financial success, and sustainability with the secrets of the Japanese Omi-merchants.
Last week, I said, how we defined success set ZENWSP apart from other motivational success philosophies. This week let me share how we define success in detail because without having a clear idea of what success is, it is easy for us to drift away and not to get our outcome.
Today, I would like to discuss why forming a local network of friends is a criterion of success.
There are three reasons for it.
First, it is good for our survival. We are all aware of the climate change and natural disasters as well as instability of our economy. To survive in this era means to have access to water, food, energy and natural resources to produce them. To do it, it is better to live in a rural area, and build a localized economy; a division of labor within a local community. Another word, we need other people to help one another; we can’t survive on our own.
However, not many people are aware of this situation, and the majority of the society is still looking at the global economy. We need a network of people who are willing to do something about this situation. A local network can be a driving force to bring about this shift, to build a localized economic structure.
In that sense, a local network is like a transition initiative.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_town
Second, a local network of friends can bring us happiness, just like our family brings us happiness. We all need friends, don’t we? And it is better if they live close by; close enough to drop by in your break or look after one another’s children. When I lived in Tokyo, most of my friends lived far away. It took us 1 or 2 hours to visit one another, so we ended up meeting at a café or a restaurant in down town Tokyo. There was no sense of community there. Our friendship kept changing, too. Some of them move to other places or go into different directions, and we fall apart. In Hino town, on the other hand, most of my friends are going to live here forever or at least for a long time. They have chosen to settle down here, and we have a sense of security that we will be seeing one another in 10 years time or in 20 years time, too. Our interests might change, but we are still stuck with one another as neighbors-haha.
Finally, a local network of friends can be co-creators of the planetary transformation happening worldwide; a shift to a sustainable and holistic world. In this era, to be successful means not only achieving your goal on a personal level but also transforming the planet successfully. Being a part of this movement is a criterion of success. There isn’t anything as exciting and uplifting than having comrades in this great transition. If you operate in higher layers in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, such as self-actualization or self-transcendence which comes above it, you are driven by this kind of vision sharing than achieving your personal goals.
You can have comrades everywhere. It is good to have a global network of friends; we need to co-operate in a global scale, and yet, it is vital to have a local base where you can have some physical contacts. Think globally and act locally is a way to go.
Omi-merchant's way of Sustainable Prosperity 