I have no time to work!

This was the exact word of an ex-colleague who is 63 years old (see picture), owning a beautiful cottage on a mountain resort (see picture), just about two hours by train from Shinjuku station. Why do I want to write about it? The simple answer is that corporate ladder climbers have forgotten that there is life outside of work! He is the prime example of this story by demonstrating that he is just too busy to think about working for a living. He is working for his life! He is working for his entertainment! He is working to bring joy to many people.

A few of us who are still working for the corporation visited and stayed for two nights at the cottage. The atmosphere was so serene that the stress of work disappeared, as I looked up the blue sky littered with sparkling stars in the night. The cold spring of just about 4 degree celcius added to that peacefulness. A barbecue dinner along with beer, wine and jovial conversation truly brought out what friendship can be developed even in the cold corporate jungle.

We visited the Matsumoto castle which is half a century old, and is still in its original construction. The cherry blossom was in full bloom. It was a sight to behold under the warmth of the sun. As the wind blew, the petals came off the starry flower, and pelted on us as if they were snow flakes. A still photograph will not be able to capture that experience. Come to think of it, every footstep I took was an experience in itself in life.

The experience of friendship where people from anywhere in the globe can come together and make the world a little better. The experience of seeing how each part of the world develops itself differently from another to suit the history of time. The experience of feeling the emotion of history that has gone before me, such as the samurai having to wait in the cold in the castle where there was no possibility of having a fire or heater, save their clothes. The experience of enjoying the economic development of the geography, which allowed me to walk so freely and safe. So no wonder, my friend Oda-san has no time to work. There is so much to experience.

He has started on another project in a 13 room hotel in a skiing resort so that he can bring the joy of skiing to many more visitors. He has skied in Mont Blanc in Chamonix and Dolomiti recently. He has tracked the 8 mountains (Hachikita) which I could see them so majestically covered with snow.

The short vacation ended so quickly, and soon my colleagues and I have to get back to work, as we flew off to Beijing for yet another meeting, to come back to my reality. But I have learnt in that short time, the power of a tag line, "I have no time to work." There is a lot more to life, that I can bring to many people, to make this world a little better than the last hour that has just past, as I wrote this blog.

I hope you will do likewise. It is a joy. If I may add to that phrase, "I have no time to complain!"

Sayonara