To You Who Are Tired from Trying Too Hard: The True Rules for Making Life Easier, Which I Want to Share as a Mother and as a Woman

What the "Tegamiya" Series by Yasushi Kitagawa Taught Me

Once you start reading Yasushi Kitagawa's books, you can't stop.
Yasushi Kitagawa has written many books that truly change one's outlook on life.
Following my previous post on "Life Traveler," I felt compelled to talk about the "Tegamiya" series.

Job hunting, entrance exams, and the meaning of working. While each story is different, there is a consistent thread running through them: the "essence of turning your life around." In particular, the true meaning of "learning and working" discussed in the collector's edition essay hit me like a physical blow to the head.

Today, I would like to summarize my own "best takeaways" from those three books.

1. Success is determined not by "points" but by "volume"

First, the teaching that has struck me the most throughout this entire series is that "the results of things are determined by the total amount (volume) of energy invested."

We tend to think, "How can I succeed efficiently?" or "How can I reach the right answer by the shortest path?" But "Tegamiya" teaches us otherwise.

It says, "To move the wall of success, you have no choice but to keep hitting it with the amount of energy that wall deserves."

Whether it's studying, work, or relationships, it is only when you have put in an overwhelming amount of effort—enough to make you think, 'I've done enough, so it will be okay'—that the doors named 'luck' or 'opportunity' finally open. I was reminded of the importance of not running away into the word 'efficiency,' but instead pouring energy into what is right in front of me, even if it's unglamorous.

2. What you are doing "now" will be useful for "something" in the future

The discussion about the meaning of studying in"Keisetsu-hen" (The Snow-Reflected Light Chapter), which features a student preparing for exams, was also shocking.

"Why do I have to study equations like this when I won't use them as an adult?" To this question that everyone has asked at least once, Tegamiya replies: "Studying isn't just for gaining knowledge. It's training to expand your possibilities and to become someone who can use the necessary tools (weapons) when the time comes to meet them."

This is the same even when you become an adult. The 'seemingly meaningless work' or 'mundane tasks' right in front of you now are all like 'muscle training' for your future self to seize a big opportunity. Don't neglect the 'here and now,' and approach them as a gift to your future self. I feel that just having that perspective changes the colors of the scenery every day.

3. The true meaning of "learning and working"

Here, please let me incorporate the perspective I want to cherish most, which was discussed in the special essay of theCollector's Edition".

We have been taught that we 'learn to get into a good school' and 'work to earn money to live.' But the truth Kitagawa-san teaches us was much more noble.

"Learning" means increasing the 'tools to help someone' within yourself. "Working" means using those tools to give shape to the 'joy of being useful to someone.'

In other words, both learning and working exist entirely to 'become someone who can contribute to someone else's happiness.' Money is just a 'bonus' that follows as a result.

When you stand in this perspective, work changes from an 'obligation' to a 'gift.' How proud it makes you feel to sit at your desk with the question, 'Who can I make smile today?' Offering the value you possess and exchanging it for someone else's joy—it was a moment when my soul deeply understood that being in that cycle is the true happiness for a human being.

4. The reason you can't do something lies not in the "method" but in your "assumptions"

I also cannot help but touch upon the mental brakes discussed in "Our Story."

When we try to take on something new, we become geniuses at finding reasons why we can't, saying things like, "I don't have the talent" or "The circumstances aren't right." But what is really stopping us isn't the external environment, but the belief (fixed idea) within ourselves that we "can't."

To borrow the words of the Letter Writer, life is created by "words" and "thoughts." Changing the words you say to yourself. Changing your interpretation to "I'm just in the middle of the process" or "This is a step toward success." I was encouraged by the idea that those small steps are the beginning of a major change.

5. I want to be someone's "Letter Writer" too

After finishing this series, the thing I feel most strongly is this: while I am the protagonist of my own life story, I also want to be a presence like the "Letter Writer" who lights up someone else's life.

Whether it's for my children or the important people around me. I want to be someone who can convey, "Studying is about increasing your own weapons" and "Working is about making someone else happy," while leading by example.

There are nights in life that you simply cannot overcome alone. At such times, I want to be someone who can weave warm words, like a letter that gently reaches the heart.

Yasushi Kitagawa's "Letter Writer" series. It is a"strategy guide for life"that has reached us while we are lost, and it is also the ultimate "cheer song."

If you are currently stuck on something, I hope you will open this "letter." The "answer" that is yours alone, which you have been searching for all this time, should be waiting there for you.

Now, did I have enough "volume" today? (laughs)
I will take another step forward with the feeling of writing the best letter to my future self tomorrow.

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