[Bahasa Indonesia]
I felt so tired today at the office. I thought I was going to be ill. All I wanted was to go home and meet my family. Then I went home. The drive home was slow. Yet I felt better, bit by bit.
I got home. And somehow, relieved. Like a huge weight has been llifted up from my shoulder. I chatted with my family. We laughed. We had dinner.
It is good to be home. Good to have a place we can call home. Thank You.
I have just returned from a five day yoga ‘retreat’ with Ann Barros. One of the nicest short getaway I have ever had.
I just want to say that at the moment. Will write a bit more later. First thing first. Reading Harry Potter.
[Bahasa Indonesia]
A friend of friend was working his b*tt off. He stayed at the office until late night after night. One day he sms-ed his manager, “I am so tired”. He SMS-ed twice. He went home. Late. Again.
The next thing they heard about him was that he had passed away. Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Is it all really worth it? Let’s see..
[Bahasa Indonesia]
My friends (let’s say a male, “he”) is quite well off. An advantage that leads to dilema. An advantage that are often misused, abused, by other people.
People then think of him as a source of unending wealth. There are always ‘friends’, family, relatives who come to him to borrow or ask for money. With various reasons/excuses. Illness. School tuition for the children. Pay the rent. Payment for other debts (with interests). Opening a business.
When this happens, my friend is always confused, should he help? Not that he is a scrooge, he is just uncertain. How does he know that that person is honest and not playing around with him? What’s with the excuses? Especially when it is not the first time that that person comes to him.
I understand the confusion. I too am unsure. Should he help?
[Bahasa Indonesia]
I always love to hear my friends’ dreams. I do believe that everything starts from a dream. But we cannot stop there. Let’s turn them into objectives, targets and think of ways to achieve them.
That is why every time a person told me about his/her dream, I tend to say, “That’s great. Make it real.” Sometimes I think I have more faith in them than themselves.
Life often make us afraid to dream. We choose to make “pragmatic” decisions, with all the “logical” reasons. We end up with status quo, although not without eruptions of complains here and there. Useless.
Then my brain starts to think of ways to help turn the dreams into reality. By giving ideas, or finding people who might be able to help.
A friend wants to open a coffee shop. Let’s do it. Establish a spiritual healing center out of town. Ok. Similar center in the city. Sure. Initiate a movement that reminds us of forgotten social values. That sounds great.
Have a tuition-free school. With pleasure. Establish a company that helps other companies improve their social activities. Cool. Become a writer. Why not? (Yes, I am talking about you). One friend even wants to be a governor. That too, the country needs a person like him.
One is only limited by his/her dreams. So keep the dreams alive.
Start doing something. Anything.
I was attending a friend’s farewell party at a hotel. I was early, so I sat in the hotel lounge. Next to me was a group of people, cosmopolitan socialités. I could not help hearing their conversation.
They were talking about setting up a party. A real party from the sound of it. The rave music they want to use. The glitzy lighting. The avant garde decoration. The drinks. The food, or should I say hors d’oeuvres.
Wow. I did not realize how distant I am now to that life now. I could not remember the last time I attended that kind of party.
It is not that it is good or bad. It is just what it is. I have just realized how different my life is now. Moving on.
[Bahasa Indonesia]
Do you have a place where you can freely cry and pour your heart out without anybody making judgement about you? I do. Or at least I used to have one. The catholic churches.
If you see my ID card, I am not catholic. Yet I find this place welcoming. I used to come there often. At one time, everyday. Perhaps historically speaking, churches are safe havens. It is my safe haven. It used to be.
But here, now, where the religion is not exactly the majority’s, where you feel like you know everybody (and they all know you), and where you know that people are sensitive with inter-religion practices, suddenly safe haven is not so safe anymore.
I miss that.
[Bahasa Indonesia]
Still continuing on the same topic. From another angle. When I arrived home, I turned on the TV. My mother said that a lot of people attended Taufik’s funeral. Praise the Lord. Such a huge amount of attention put on the passing of one Taufik Savalas.
As the TV show was over, I flicked to another TV channel, Metro TV. Headline News. A ship accident somewhere in the Eastern Indonesia. 120 passengers. They have found 30 so far, two died.
120 people went missing and most probably would not survive the accident. I wonder how much attention people would put on these 120 missing people. Or the 30 million people living below the poverty line in Indonesia.
[Bahasa Indonesia]
This morning people were taken back by the news that comedian Taufik Savalas has died from an accident. The guy was known for his sense of humor, kindness and humbleness. All comes from God and will eventually return to Him.
I was touched by all the impressions Taufik made among his friends – as his friends were interviewed by the TV channels. The sympathy that he had received was overwhelming and was obvious, judging by the TV and radio news coverage.
“He is not a big guy, but he is kind,” said Ulfa, one of his best friends. Patience and pleasing for everybody.
Pleasing for everybody. That was the topic of today’s radio talkshow. Looks like that is the message of the day for me.
The death of someone, anyone, always makes us think of our own death. What kind of impression will you leave behind among friends and family when you die?
[Bahasa Indonesia]
I have heard this many times. Too many. The problem is people seldom feel that they are rich enough, never enough. We are always too busy with ‘other priorities’ so they end up never doing any deeds for other people.
Back to the “being rich” issue. I think we all know that helping is not equal to money and, hence, no need to wait for us to be rich. I have just discussed this with another friend this afternoon. And I told her a story..
I have a friend named Prita. She likes to distribute meal for the homeless. Shec cooks it herself. It is more cost effective, and itjust makes it ‘a total effort’ for her.
One day her neighbor came to her. The neighbor is by no means rich. She (the neighbor) said, “I don’t have much money, so I cannot chip in any money to this effort.”
She added, sincerely, “But can I help cook and distribute the meal?”
It really does not need money. We can give our time and a hand. Or thoughts. Or intension. Or even a smile.
.start doing something. anything.
chipping in 