Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Finding The Reason WHY.

WHY?

...is the common question we’re asking when we’re faced with a situation that’s out of our hands or something unexpectedly bad happen to us.

It’s very natural to question WHY, it’s very normal to ask WHY, because there are things in the world that we cannot quite understand why they happened to us.

Sometimes we feel as if we’re living life just as we should. We’ve been good, we’ve been nice but then why do the bad things happen anyway? Well, I cannot quite give you the answer why. It’s something greater than our understanding and I guess, that’s just how life is.

I lost a best friend two days ago. It was a painful loss. He was a dear, dear friend. Then later on, I got another news that a friend was missing at the sea because the ship he was on, was drown by a sudden storm. Until now, we haven’t heard anything about him. It’s hard. I still met him last week. We were still joking around and now his whereabout is unknown.

Yesterday was a rough day.

I want to ask God, I want to question Him, I want to know...WHY.

WHY my friends? WHY people who are dear to me? WHY them? WHY so sudden?

Yet, I’m tightlipped and I can’t even utter a word to Him. I’m sad and angry, but deep inside I know I want to believe that God must have something in mind, something that I don’t understand for now. I know that God is good and when He let something happens, He definitely knows what He’s doing.

The question WHY doesn’t always come in the same envelope with the answer and to wait for the answer can be so freaking hard. It’s not easy at all. It’s not.

In this hard time, I am reminded by a verse that said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matt. 5 : 4, NIV) or in other translation the same verse said, “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (Matt. 5 : 4, TMB) – I think the verse is perfect for my situation.

It’s been hard accepting the loss but somehow I can feel that God is comforting me in ways that He knows will definitely give me comfort.

And that’s just how life is..things make us laugh, things make us cry. Life will still go on and time doesn’t pause just to give us time to grieve, no it’s not. Everything goes on and we should to. When there is pain, we don’t pretend we’re not hurting. We stop. We grieve. We cry and weep. Then, we go on.

For those whom we have lost, let’s just send some light and love. For those who lost your loved ones, just grieve properly and let them go. It’s hard, I know. But they wouldn’t want you to keep on grieving and stop living.

For those in difficult situations that you cannot understand why everything is happening to you, keep holding on, keep the faith. God is not leaving you. He’s with you, He’s holding your hand and He knows what He’s doing. Hang in there, help is on the way.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Surat Untuk Seorang Sahabat.

Mungkin hal yang paling menyakitkan adalah kehilangan seseorang yang dekat dengan kita dengan cara yang mendadak dan itulah yang terjadi. Pagi ini, gw menerima kabar bahwa seorang sahabat gw meninggal dunia dan untuk pertama kalinya gw nangis sejadi-jadinya di depan umum, di tengah-tengah mall, di tengah-tengah orang-orang yang ngeliatin sampe harus ditarik nyokap ke pinggiran. 

Sakit, sakit banget harus kehilangan dengan cara gini. Tanpa sempat bilang selamat tinggal, tanpa sempat ketemu untuk terakhir kalinya. Cuma, mungkin itu yang sahabat gw mau, dia ngga pernah mau nyusahin orang lain sampai akhirnya pergi pun, dia pergi diam-diam. 

Hati berusaha keras untuk ikhlas, mata berusaha keras untuk menahan air mata setiap kali kenangan akan dia terlintas. Ikhlas. Berat untuk ikhlas, berat banget. 

Dan tulisan ini pun...untuk dia. Mas Arip Rahman Hakim, seorang teman, seorang sahabat dan seorang kakak. Terimakasih untuk semuanya, Mas. Bahagia ya disana.  

ps: I write this to heal myself and to grieve in my own way. 


-o-o-oOo-o-o-

Dear Mas Arip,

Gimana kabarnya disana? Mas Arip pasti lagi seru diving atau naik gunung ya disana. Pasti Mas Arip seneng banget deh, sekarang Mas Arip udah bebas mau kemana aja. Udah ngga perlu nyari tiket pesawat murah lagi ya, Mas...hehehe.

Aku masih ngga percaya Mas Arip udah ngga ada, Mas Arip kan masih janji mau ke Ternate sama aku, Wika dan Mas Boy. Kita juga kan masih mau ke Weh, Mas, biar ngga kalah sama Ais. Tapi kenapa Mas Arip harus pergi secepet ini? Aku masih belum kenalin Mas Arip sama Abang, Abang juga suka diving loh Mas, suka foto juga kayak kamu. Tanggal 26 ini, Dive ID mau adain Dive Talk lagi, Mas, aku udah ajak Abang, tadinya aku mau ajak Mas Arip juga biar Mas Arip bisa ketemu sama Abang. 

Mas Arip inget kan Dive Talk pertama? Yang Mas Arip nyasar kemana-mana nyariin tempatnya dan kita bingung gimana caranya ya ngasih tau Mas Arip...eh tapi pas berhasil sampe tiba-tiba Mas Arip dapet doorprize buat kelas Buoyancy dari Banyu Biru Explorer. Aku masih inget Mas, abis itu kita bareng Mas Boy, Ais dan Priska ke Sushi Tei, Gandaria City, ngobrol panjang lebar. Dari Hiu sampai Horor. Aku masih inget kamu ketawain aku karena aku sebel banget denger cerita horornya Wika soal dermaga di Odi Dive, kamu malah ngajakin aku night dive disana sama Mas Boy, nakal deh!

Mas Arip, kita kan masih mau keliling NTT. Kita udah bikin plan-nya. Kita udah booking tiket buat Maumere - Kupang. Aku masih nyimpen itinerary dari Mas Arip dan masih inget banget waktu aku cerita sama Mas Arip kalau aku mau ke Sumba, pesen dari Mas Arip banyaaaak banget. "Nanti kesini ya Neng...nanti kesana..." - aku bilang aku ngga tau gimana caranya kita keliling NTT dan Mas Arip selalu bilang, "Nanti kita jalanin bareng-bareng ya, Neng..tenang aja." - itulah kamu, Mas. Selalu menjaga orang lain, selalu perduli sama orang lain. 

Kita kan juga masih mau balik ke Banda lagi, Mas...nyari sotong yang pake kacamata aku. Makan terong kenari, nginep di tempat Abba. Aku masih inget Mas, kita whatsapp'an pas nonton Ring Of Fire soal Banda, kita ribut banget kangen-kangen sama Banda. Itu trip besar pertama kita setelah Open Water ya Mas, dan seneng banget aku berbaginya sama kamu. Kita ga pernah selesai ngomongin Banda, meskipun yang lain udah bosen dengernya, tapi itu cerita kita, trip kita dan kita ngga pernah bosen mengingatnya. Terus setelah pulang dari Banda kita terus ribut mau ke Komodo dan janjian ngambil AOW bareng-bareng sama Ko Ronald. 

Aku kan belom naik gunung juga sama kamu, Mas, padahal kamu udah ngajakin ke Rinjani tapi waktunya ngga pas dan kamu malah akhirnya jadi sakit. 

Aku masih inget trip terakhir kita bareng Wika dan temen-temennya Ais. Kamu demam waktu itu Mas, waktu aku tanya, kamu cuma bilang kayaknya sinus kamu kumat dan cuma minta teh manis anget dan nitip dibeliin tolak angin. Di trip terakhir itu, kamu pinjemin aku kamera kamu, trus seneng banget waktu aku fotoin, kamu bilang, "Akhirnya ada juga yang motoin pas lagi nyelem..." - iya Mas, selama ini kamu yang selalu fotoin kita yah...foto kamu malah jarang banget. 

Di trip itu juga, kita masih bahas banyak hal, masih pengen ke Alor, ke Wakatobi...dan sama-sama bertekad kalo Raja Ampat itu destinasi terakhir setelah keliling yang lain. Sekarang, kita harus jalanin semua rencana itu tanpa kamu, rasanya sedih banget. 

Kamu emang ngga pernah mau nyusahin orang ya Mas, sampe saat terakhir pun kamu ngga mau kasih tau siapapun kamu kenapa dan kamu malah nolak buat dijenguk. Mestinya, aku juga keras kepala, maksa buat jenguk kamu, maksa buat datengin rumah sakit kamu, supaya masih sempet ketemu sama kamu. Ngga kayak gini, kamu pergi tanpa pamit. tanpa bilang apa-apa, sama kayak kalo kamu ngilang tiap pagi atau sore buat hunting sunrise dan sunset. 

Aku masih inget Mas waktu kita terdampar di Ambon gara-gara pesawat yang delay dan kita harus re-schedule semuanya. Kita nginep di Lahat, satu kamar buat berempat. Kamu dan Mas Boy selalu jadi orang yang jagain aku. Aku beruntung banget pergi sama kalian. 

Aku inget waktu pertama ketemu Mas Arip pas ujian OW sama Dive ID, disitu kita pertama kenal, pertama ngobrol, sampai akhirnya saling follow di twitter, instagram dan terus kontak2an dan pergi trip bareng. Aku ngga nyangka banget Mas, kalo cuma dikasih waktu setahun kenal sama Mas Arip, tapi setahun itu, rasanya udah lama banget aku udah kenal Mas Arip. Aku selalu marah-marah sama Mas Arip karena selalu posting foto-foto cantik di Instagram dan Mas Arip pasti cuma ketawa. Mas Arip yang twitnya selalu cerdas mengkritik dan selalu promosiin indahnya Indonesia. 

Mas Arip yang selalu bantuin aku siap-siap kalo mau turun, Mas Arip yang selalu bantu bawain barang aku tanpa diminta, Mas Arip yang selalu nungguin dan nyariin kalo pas lagi di bawah, Mas Arip udah jadi buddy terbaik buat semua orang.  Makasih banget ya Mas, selama ini udah jagain aku, sekarang pasti Tuhan sendiri yang jagain Mas Arip dan Mas Arip udah tenang dalam dekapanNya.

Siapalagi yang bisa aku sama Priska rebutin kalo bukan Mas Arip sebagai buddy kita, malah pernah kita bilang nanti di Komodo, kita buddy'an bertiga aja yah biar adil. Segitu kita sayang sama Mas Arip bukan cuma karena Mas Arip suka jagain kita, tapi buat kita Mas Arip udah lebih dari sekedar buddy, Mas Arip adalah sahabat dan Mas Arip adalah saudara kita. 

Kehilangan kamu itu sakit Mas, buat kami semua. Kamu pergi terlalu mendadak dan terlalu cepat, kami belum sempet ketemu kamu. Ngga ada lagi postingan foto-foto cantik di instagram dan path yang menyambut di pagi hari. Ngga ada lagi tawa kamu Mas...ngga ada lagi cerita kamu nyasar ke PIM padahal kita janjiannya di PI. Ngga ada lagi whatsapp kamu yang ngasih tau info flight murah dan janjian buat nge-trip bareng. 

Ikhlas itu ternyata berat ya Mas, berat banget. Tapi harus, supaya kamu tenang disana. 

Makasih ya Mas Arip, sampaikan sama Tuhan, makasih banget Dia udah ijinin kamu menghabiskan waktu sama kami. Banyak yang kehilangan kamu Mas disini dan itu tanda betapa berharganya hidup kamu. Perjalanan kamu keliling Indonesia mungkin harus terhenti sampai disini, tapi kami, akan melanjutkannya. Semangat dan cinta kamu sama Indonesia, akan kami teruskan. Untuk setiap tempat di Indonesia yang aku jelajahi, aku dedikasikan buat kamu. 

Sampai ketemu lagi ya Mas Arip. Terimakasih. Terimakasih. Terimakasih untuk sudah hidup di dunia ini dan terimakasih sudah jadi sahabat aku. You will always be missed. Always. 

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Expect The Unexpected.


"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
Douglas Adams

Never in my life, I ever dreamed to set my feet in India but life always has its own way to surprise me with the unexpected.

Last week, I was in Mumbai, India for work related matters and since I was there over the weekend, I had a chance to visit one of the wonders of the world, The Taj Mahal in Agra. It was really an amazing experience, both the work and the fun time.

The one who was suppose to go there was a colleague of mine, he handed in his resignation letter just days before the departure day while I was still having my holiday in Bangkok at that time. I didn’t know about this until after I came back to the office. I only got 5 days to process all the documents and thank God that my visa released right on time just one day before the departure day. The whole preparation thing was crazy.

It was my first time assigned to overseas Branch and working with new people from various backgrounds and experience definitely has enriched me. It was something beyond my imagination and expectation. I found not only new colleagues but also new friends as well. Not just great working experience but also unforgettable travelling experience. I can say that I feel blessed.

Looking back, I never thought that I would ever be where I am today. For so many times I have considered to resign from my current office but somehow, I didn’t (with many reasons) and I can’t imagine where I would be now if I had made the decision. I personally have my own dreams, my own plans and my own goals that I wish to achieve, but somehow many things happen and I was detoured from my original destination. In the end, it’s been giving me a lot of awesome experience.

I believe every one of us has dreams, visions, plans and things we would want to achieve. I can understand how frustrating it is when it seems like it’s so hard to make everything come true, as if we’ve done everything but still nothing is seen in the horizon. Reflecting back to my own life, I have learned that in such situation, it’s better to be flexible to life because life sometimes has its own surprises that you will never expect and ones that you will be forever grateful for.

I love travelling. Thus, like all travellers do, I make my plans before I go. I make sure that my tickets and hotel are booked, I have enough clothes packed for the trip and of course, I have my what-to-do and places-to-go list. The planning part is always fun, it fills you up with all kinds of excitement and expectations...yet during the travel, things are not always go according to plan and sometimes, those are the most exciting part of the travel. When the unexpected happens, we will have an adventure to experience and stories to tell.

Life is pretty much like traveling, we make plans and things to do. We dream of things that we want to achieve in life and we hold on to it. Yet, when we live life, things are not always happening the way we want them to. But, when we learn to be flexible, drop all expectations, have an open heart and an open mind to what life has to offer, we will realise that everything happens for a reason and where we are right now – although it might not be where we want – is the place where we should be and sometimes, it’s even a better place than we ever expect to be.

Just believe that we will arrive in the right place with the right people at the right time. In the meantime, expect the unexpected and be grateful for whatever season, place and time we’re in right now because that’s exactly where we need to be.

Monday, July 08, 2013

Live and Be Happy.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.”
- Audrey Hepburn

When I enter 2013, my new year’s resolution was simple: “I want to be happier than last year

Being happy, I think, is the most wanted thing by every human being living in this earth. It’s something that all of us are striving to achieve in one way or another. Only, we often forget that happiness is a choice.

I’ve met people who placed their standards of happiness on other people’s life achievements. For example, people who think that they will be happy once they have a great sport car like their neighbour, people who think that they will be happy if they have a slender body like those models in the magazines, people who think that they will be happy if they are happily married like their parents or peers, and so on – and those people, they got frustrated when they couldn’t achieve that “happiness

Fact is, you can be happy where you are right now if you choose to be.

People often asked me if being single ever bothers me – for me, it’s their question than bothers me most :p - well, it would be nice to have someone to be with but it doesn’t mean that it makes me less happy because I don’t let my happiness determined by someone else (or by my status). I’m single and I can say that I’m happy – something that still confuses most people. Being single means that I can still do a lot of things that people in a relationship (or married people) can’t do, things that you will miss having when you’re no longer single and trust me, there are a lot of them :))

You don’t wait for happiness to happen to you, instead it happens to you because you choose to be happy.

I can understand that many things in this life that are able to make us feel sad, upset, hurt, angry and bitter but to carry those luggage are too much for us in this short life. We need to learn to let go of the burdens and be grateful of life.

Being grateful is the first step of being happy. Being grateful means you can appreciate what you already have and be content with it. Being grateful means you are happy where you are, with what you have and with whom you are with. You don’t need to have anything or anyone in your life to make you happy because you are already content and you are happy with that.

Being content doesn’t mean that you are easily satisfied or that you no longer have the desire to go for the best. Being content doesn’t mean that you are happy with the status quo. No, being content is not to let anything keep you from being happy, from being grateful. You can always aim for the best and have your dreams but when things are going out of your expectations, those things won’t be able to keep you down and steal your joy.

There’s a beautiful quote that said, “Don’t just survive life, LIVE life.” – It’s true! Many people are merely surviving not really living because they’re too busy trying to make a living instead of living life. When we stop trying so hard to get all those things that we think would make us happy, that’s when life is happening then our heart will become larger and we will start to clearly see what we already have and be grateful for it and when we start to be grateful, we are choosing to be happy.

So, let’s start to LIVE LIFE and BE HAPPY! 

Sunday, July 07, 2013

I AM LOVED.





When I was in a Christian book store one day, I came across a book with an interesting title, "The Bad Girls of The Bible" - it was a book discussing about the women labeled as bad in the history of the Bible and their roles in God's plan for salvation. I think that's interesting that God never use the perfect people to fulfill His plan and talking about "Bad Girls" - I think I can pretty much relate to that.

Knowing my on-off relationship with God, knowing how broken I am, knowing that my life is such a mess and knowing that I screw up most of the time...nothing can make me qualified to be called as someone that GOD would love and my love for God...it fails every time. But Heaven knows best that I'm trying. 

God knows how difficult I am to be loved sometimes. God knows how broken I am and how messed up I am. He knows me to the very details of my life, the ugly and the bad. I'm struggling to receive His love, because it's simply hard for my mind to understand that how come someone loves me just the way I am with all the extra luggage that I carry in my life. 
 
A father shared his story in the church this morning. His son did something bad and to discipline the son, he was grounded. Later at night when the father tucked his son in his bed, his son asked him, "Daddy, do you still love me?" stunned by his son's question the father said, "Of course I love you, why did you ask?" his son then answered him, "Because I've been bad, maybe you love me less.." and the father replied, "No, I still love you and know that just because you are grounded it doesn't mean that I love you less." -- and that's how God's love for us. 

Sometimes, when we're going bad, God will discipline us (for our own good) and it doesn't mean that He loves us less. I'm glad that He's that way. I know I messed up most of the time but He's always there for me, loving me and helping to clean up all the mess. 

I know how hard it is to try to be perfect just to be loved. I know how painful it is to be someone you're not just to be accepted. I know how heart breaking it is when you've tried your best but it seems like it's not enough. That's why I'm glad that I don't have to impress God to make Him love me, I don't have to be perfect to make Him love me and I don't have to be anyone else just to make Him love me and He expect nothing from me. He demand nothing in return. 
 
The Cross, is the proof of His love for me and you. It's not something that He did to make us guilty for not loving Him enough (because hey, how do you know when enough is enough when it comes to returning His love to you?). The Cross is a reminder that God loves us nonetheless. The Bible does make a point when it says that God loves us even when we are still sinners. 
 
His love is mind-blowing and I'm glad that I am loved by God and I know, I will always be loved by Him no matter what. To add the joy, He loves you too :)