LIMIT

In my 30s, when everything in my life was about achievement, and I was working hard at fulfilling my dual role as a single mother and a career woman, I was often challenged by motivational quotes about pushing our limits. "Break your limit!" "Push your limit!" were all about thinking and acting beyond reasonable limits, and achieving success in society, promotions in a fairly fast time, prestigious positions followed by various privileges, which for some people I was considered not ambitious enough for all of that.

Does that mean I have to do anything, regardless of ethics to achieve what is called success? Is it wrong if what success means to me is different from the standard of success in society? Is being successful the only reason I'm alive? Why should I be successful according to society's standards? The more I grow older I think again, what limits were actually to be pushed and broken?

In the end I believe that limits exist and are made to emphasize that we are human beings those full of limitations and limits exist to keep everything in balance. Have you ever imagined if our body continues to grow tall without limit? How troublesome is that? Likewise if the desires and passions in our humanity grow without limits. 

Now if I look back, walking through memory lane, I can't stop being grateful that my daughter and me both are doing well and supporting each other and we are contented. I count myself as contented instead of successful. I am entrusted a good job, with its privilege, and level of influence that enables me to serve people and share good things. I am more than happy when knowing that my existence brings good influence to others.

I don't think that I have to be successful according to anyone's or any standards. I do the best in my ability to succeed, not only to my satisfaction but to be able to bless others. For me a meaningful life is more noble than just being successful and happy.

The world of reality has its limit, the world of imagination is boundless. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)

SEVENTY-SEVEN TIMES

"Have you ever experienced having hard time to forgiving?" 

"I have"

We have all been in situations where we have done wrong and desire forgiveness—from a spouse, family member, friend, or even a co-worker. Sometimes the person we most need forgiveness from is ourselves. And then there are the times when someone is asking us for forgiveness, and we have to look deeply in ourselves to offer it, no strings attached. It's hard! Whether you are giving or receiving forgiveness, it's a very powerful thing.

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' " Matthew 18:21-22

Some time ago a friend in Bali (we've been friends since college), whom we haven't been in contact for quite some time, suddenly texted me and forwarded a text she got from someone, in which the content of the text was about me which was described very badly.

She knows, everything told in the text was not true. She knew that Ita, whom she had known for so long, couldn't possibly do something like that. In the end, we laughed about it.

Not long after, I received another forwarded text message (with the same content) from another friend of mine. OMG. I don't know to how many people this message has been sent to.

I thanked them for forwarding that slanderous texts to me. They trust me more than a total stranger who sent them the text and said somethin cruel about their good friend.

They suggested me to contact the sender of those slanderous messages and confront what he had done to me. With gratitude for their sincere concern I refuse to do so, as it would be pointless for me to explain.

I choose to think that the sender of the message, who by the nature of his job is to create characters and write stories, at that time he was creating an imaginative character and he named that character as Ita. He described the character as a woman who likes to control, interferes with the lives of those around her, is very demanding, jealous and fussy. This imaginative character is what he shared to my friends.

That is not me. Even my friends knew it wasn't me. So, it's useless for me to explain to the world that it's not me. If the world chooses to believe it is the real Ita, then that's their right, because believing is a decision.

What people think about me is none of my business!

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Forgiving | Do you know what that is, to forgive?

Its a decision we make to release a person from the feeling of anger we have at them. Its strange. Its hardest of all to forgive someone we love.

"Are you having a hard time forgiving?" 

"I am"

FUN FACTS ARE NEVER FUN

FUN FACTS are never "fun"!

As if starting a new job (or joining a new group) wasn’t scary enough, so often we’ll be asked to introduce ourselves by way of a “fun fact.”

Inevitably, at that moment, we will forget everything we’ve ever done, every place we’ve ever been, every of our accomplishments. Then, there will be nothing to say, and we’ll end up blurting out our "un-fun" things, or something equally uninteresting. 

It’s not our fault. This is a bad practice, a damning prompt. Employers, especially, should not ask their employees to produce fun facts. It’s enough to be there to do the job for which they were hired.

😀

But, if you once again find yourself in a situation in which you must produce a fun fact — and you will — you might as well be prepared. The ideal fun fact is two things (in my opinion) : (1) interesting enough to ensure nobody makes you do it over, and (2) not so interesting that everyone has lots of follow-up questions. It doesn’t have to be fun. It will rarely be fun. You just need something to say.

Fun fact about me? 😉🤔

SAHABAT JADI CINTA

Kamu bisa nggak sadar, ketika dia diam-diam menyelinap di hatimu sebagai orang yang paling kamu cintai dalam hidup. Ada yang bilang bahwa cewek dan cowok tidak akan bisa bersahabat hingga erat dan dekat karena keduanya pasti akan saling jatuh cinta. Well, pemikiran tersebut memang masuk akal karena perasaan manusia sangatlah dinamis, bisa berubah seiring berjalannya waktu.

Kalian berdua merasa nyaman bersama

Kadang tidak perlu kata-kata, tapi dalam keheningan pun kamu bisa merasa nyaman menghabiskan waktu bersamanya. Asal dia di sebelahmu, asal dia menemanimu seharian, dalam diam pun kamu bisa merasa senang.

Ngerasa ada yang kurang kalau dia nggak ada

Ini akibat kalian terlalu lama bergaul dan tahu kebiasaan masing-masing, bahkan tahu apa yang akan dipikirkan oleh satu sama lain.

Sahabatmu ingat betul setiap detail hal-hal yang kamu suka atau benci dan kebiasaanmu

Namanya sahabat, kamu pasti hafal kebiasaannya dia dong? Mulai hal tersimpel hingga yang paling kompleks. Hubungan kalian jadi semakin dalam karena kalian berdua secara tidak sadar melakukan apa yang dilakukan oleh sepasang kekasih.

Kalian nggak sadar kalau cinta itu datang tiba-tiba

Seperti orang yang mengendap-endap masuk dan tiba-tiba memberimu kejutan, seperti itulah orang yang jatuh cinta sama sahabatnya. Didn’t see that one coming though.

Kalau kalian berdua sudah berpikir matang-matang dan merasa kalian berdua memang tepat sebagai sepasang kekasih, then go for it! Memberikan kebebasan pada waktu yang berjalan bukan berarti kamu menggantung terus lho. Kalau kalian berdua sudah nyaman satu sama lain dan memang merasa kalian ditakdirkan Tuhan untuk menua bersama, ya jalani saja. Good luck!