Being able to chat

My wife went to the hair salon. When she came back, she asked me, “What do you think of my hair?” and I replied, “It looks good.” When she asked me, “What do you like about it?”, I didn’t know what to say right away, so I answered, “It looks fresh.” Of course, since she had a haircut, it should look fresh. I felt a bit funny saying that myself.

To me, it’s nothing special, but to the person in question, that seems to be the key point. I was reminded once again that not understanding this is my weakness.

The other day, I read an article titled “How to improve your wife’s mood…” and it made me realize that I’m not good at small talk. People who aren’t good at small talk tend to dismiss small everyday events as “unimportant.”

It’s true that I’ve always prioritized things I consider important, like work and big goals. However, things like my wife’s hairstyle and other small everyday events may seem small to me, but they’re important to her. I realized that the problem was that I was using my own standards to define what I considered “small.”

I tend to think of rambling, inconclusive conversations as “unimportant talk,” and I don’t enjoy the conversation itself. “I’ve heard that story before,” “That story again?” “What’s the solution?” “How long are you going to be struggling with that problem?” These kinds of questions pop up one after another, and if there’s a problem, you want to solve it, and if there’s a goal, you want to set a goal. If the conversation isn’t leading to a solution or a goal, I lose interest in listening.

I always tell people, “When you receive the energy of Shinkiko and your own Ki rises, it becomes easier to feel at ease in your mind.” Feelings of joy emit positive Ki, which not only raises your own Ki but also changes the Ki of those around you. To achieve this, it’s important to be able to have casual conversations and chat. By listening to what others have to say through casual conversation and cherishing their small joys and interests, the bond between you will deepen.

From now on, when I think that something my wife is talking about is “small,” I will try to think, “Is it small to my wife?” and try to be in a position where I can listen to the things she likes. I would also like to borrow the power of Shinkiko’s energy even more, so that I can enjoy casual conversation with a relaxed mind.

Laughter lifts spirits

As I wrote about in last week’s article, when my son is crying, if I make a series of funny faces, he often stops crying and starts laughing. I’m sure that to others I look ridiculous doing this, but it’s just what a doting parent does.

I believe that the act of “making people laugh” is actually very important. To raise your Ki you need to emit positive Ki from yourself. This is because Ki has the property that by doing so, positive Ki will gather from those around you due to the vibrational synchronization effect. Laughter is truly the source of generating positive Ki.

At the Shinkiko Retreat seminar held every month, we do something called “Laughter Practice.” Everyone joins hands and at first tries to force themselves to laugh. As they yell “Ha ha ha,” the atmosphere gradually becomes more cheerful, and before they know it, they’re actually laughing.

My father, our founder, always had a punch line in his stories and valued the humorous aspects of rakugo and manzai. Even in serious stories, he would always include something that would make people chuckle.

To increase laughter in your daily life, you need to have the mental space to see your own and those around you’re making jokes about their mistakes. For example, while I was seriously explaining Shinkiko, my nose suddenly started to itch and I sneezed loudly. The sound echoed through the quiet hall, and for a moment I wondered what to do, but then I said, “This is also proof that the energy of Ki is working on the body,” and it became a funny story, lightening the mood in the room.

When you receive the energy of Shinkiko and your Ki rises, you will find it easier to have peace of mind. If the influence of negative Ki is strong, you will take even small failures seriously, but as the support of positive Ki increases, you will be able to turn the same event into laughter.

Laughter is not something we passively wait for; it’s good to create it ourselves. Laughing with others also raises the energy in the room and deepens the bonds between you.

It’s especially in difficult times that we should not forget to laugh. A little laughter creates peace of mind, which gives us the strength to take the next step. And when we laugh, we not only send positive energy to ourselves, but to invisible beings as well.

So, try to find humour in the little things that happen in your daily life, turn your failures into jokes, and laugh at silly things. By doing so, you will attract positive energy around you, and your life will become more enjoyable and fulfilling.

There’s a reason why I like it

My son, who will soon be two years old, has recently been carrying a picture book about vegetables with him wherever he goes. The book features a variety of vegetables, including radishes and cabbages, but he always has it open to the page featuring sweet potatoes. His favorite parts are the three pages that say, “Sweet potatoes grown in the fields,” “Now lined up at the greengrocer’s. They’re sweet potatoes,” and “Let’s roast them and enjoy them,” and he seems to particularly like the first page, where they are about to harvest in the fields.

Because he opens it every day, the pages have become tattered, and I have reinforced them with tape in several places, so it has become quite thick. The picture book is so small that he can barely hold it in one hand, but he even takes it with him when he goes for walks, and I always hold it open to the page showing the sweet potatoes growing in the fields, which makes me feel a little embarrassed in front of the people around me.

Why does he like it so much? He likes roasted sweet potatoes, but he could have opened it to page 3, where a girl is eating them with relish. But what he likes most is the picture of a field full of sweet potatoes hanging from vines being harvested.

There is no logic to liking something. This must be related to the Ki from this picture. It is truly because of Ki. I say that there is positive Ki and negative Ki, and both are related to “liking” something. We want to like things with as good Ki as possible, but if we are influenced by strong negative Ki, we will naturally end up liking things with bad Ki.

Since you are always on the same wavelength as negative Ki, you need to be careful and think logically about whether this is the influence of negative Ki. Even if you can’t tell for yourself, you may be able to tell through others. If you think something is wrong, I would like you to recharge with the energy of Shinkiko. If you take in Ki from outside and raise your own Ki, you will naturally lose contact with things that emit negative Ki.

It may be that the things that small children innocently like hide something important that we adults have forgotten. Seeing my son’s pure sense of “liking” something makes me want to cherish the things that make me feel truly comfortable. With the support of Shinkiko’s energy, I would like to hone my sense of naturally choosing things that give off positive Ki.

Change yourself by finding small positives

In the Shinkiko retreat seminar, we spend a lot of time practicing “finding the good positive points.” Today, we will explain the “finding the good positive points” method of deliberately setting small goals for yourself and recognizing that you have achieved them.

When things don’t go well, when failures or unfortunate events occur, the feeling that there’s nothing you can do can grow stronger. Negative energy is dark energy that doesn’t want to change, so it prevents people from changing for the better.

Just by being able to take action, our light-like energy of Shinkiko increases, but by accumulating small successes, the influence of negative Ki gradually fades away, and we become more susceptible to the support of positive Ki.

To explain a little more, when we make a decision and take action, we consider whether or not to take that action. When you think, “This is such a pain” or “Maybe I can skip it today,” your physical condition and emotions at the time can also link up, causing negative energy to take effect.

Therefore, setting small but achievable goals and acknowledging your success in achieving them will allow you to act more effectively with less effort, increasing your light.

If you think about it this way, “finding the good” by setting small goals is a challenge to negative energy, but you can make it easier to succeed by using the following methods.

1. First, decide on a goal that you are sure you can achieve.

The key is to clearly define the specific actions, time, and number of times.

For example, start with “always say thank you to my family at least once,” and gradually increase the number.

2. Once you have done it, be sure to record it.

For example, you can use a calendar or diary to write down not only “what you did” but also “how you felt.”

3. At the end of your record, add positive words such as “You did it again today” or “You’re doing well.”

These words are the key to attracting positive energy.

Also, even if there are days when you can’t do it, it’s important not to give up and start again. Furthermore, look back on the past and remember what you’ve accomplished. Think about “why you were able to achieve it” and focus on what actions and attitudes of your own led to that result.

Then, by thinking about how you can apply this to the problems you’re currently facing, you’ll gain the confidence that “if I did it then, I can do it this time too.”

Even if your energy is very negative, by continuing to use Hi Genki, it will change little by little. Furthermore, by looking for the small good positive things in yourself, you can get closer to your ideal self, one step at a time.