A rolling stone gathers no moss, but the stone does not know where it is rolling to

There are only a few hours left in 2023.
As I wrote before, I think 2023 has been an incredibly fulfilling year for me.

Since I was a child, I haven't been the type to set a goal like 'I want to be X!' and work toward it. I feel like I've lived my life being carried along by the current, but I've somehow established a pretty good position for myself and am living happily for now.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

(Luckily) a certain project I joined as a founding member six years ago went on to spark an innovation that everyone in Japan knows well, and many people are likely benefiting from it today. Since that has become one of the credentials I can proudly list, I suppose you could say that even though I've been carried along by life, I have managed to seize a certain amount of opportunity.
Of course, I have also been pushed into a corner several times in the past. However, looking back, the things I think might have been the turning points that led to my good fortune almost always happened after I was pushed into a corner.

Scientist Mindset

I like to approach things by forming hypotheses and conducting experiments, so I think my mindset is similar to that of a scientist. Even if I fail, I consider that failure to be an experimental result, so I personally run a cycle of analyzing the causes of why things didn't go well and forming the next hypothesis. Therefore, I believe that the lucky turning points that visit me after being pushed into a corner are the result of successfully analyzing the causes and revising my hypotheses.
In short, I live my life thinking that my life itself is a grand laboratory, that I am the subject, and that I am also the investigator and recorder.
I can hear someone saying, 'That means there's no end to it!', and that is exactly right. There is no end to this, and I don't even know where I would arrive for it to be considered finished.

The good points of this way of thinking

However, there are several good things about this way of thinking.
First, because my life is the result of my own experiment, I don't have to compare myself to anyone else. Also, since results don't come immediately and the results I do get aren't the final goal, I can enjoy life indefinitely. And because I believe I can conduct experiments appropriate to my age, I don't find getting older to be painful.

The other day, when I was drinking with the president of a certain company, he asked me, 'Mr. Scientific Thinker, you're like a hermit. Don't you have any desires?' It's true that I don't have much desire for material things, nor do I have a desire to be important. I will likely continue to repeat experiments and verify causes and hypotheses next year just as I have until now.

Above all, what I wish for...

That said, next year will also be packed with things I want to do (experiments) and things I must do (work). I don't know where I will be carried off to, but no matter where I end up, there is no doubt that I will see new scenery.

However, since 'my family, and the people I am involved with through work and hobbies (including myself, of course) being healthy' is built into that function, I wish for the health of those around me more than anything else.
...I do wish for it, but since there is nothing I can directly do (for others), I plan to pray for everyone's health at my first shrine visit of 2024.

Postscript

Thank you for reading until the end.

I have listed the articles I have written so far in a sitemap.
Please take a look.

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