Go Beyond Ourselves!

Life is rugged. Yes. There are circumstances which will prevent you from achieving the success. Your path will be slippery yet fatiguing. You will have to cope with those that will obstruct you due to jealousy and envy. People will avoid and belittle you. You may want to give up sometimes as your surroundings do not provide you. Many are still lingered in their past: failure, humiliation, sorrow. Your parents will probably handicap you as they want to live happily. They might have a thought that a happy life is the safe and easy one. So they will keep on eye at you as though there had to be safety and comfort. A few people will daunt you for the sake of their self-interests. And you will later realize that people are used to condoning the wrong. We would rather that we could run away from those all. But it is the same as we do nothing. And what then?

Alright. There are golden ways to go beyond ourselves. First, be independent. Forge yourself to be an independent man. Try to do small things: cooking, washing dishes, cleaning. Tell your parents not to bring your meal as you are no longer a kid. Start going by yourself to everywhere. Go to a lonesome place and have a conversation with yourself. You can go to the sea, mountain, or the lake, and then ask yourself: “Am I still reliant?”. Say to yourself, “Juan, I dare you. Become independent!” And you will find out that you are the author of your own life. Have your own independence.

Therefore, have the courage within you. Nothing venture, nothing win. It is said that courage is gained through every experience in which we are forged to stop to be in doubt. Courage is a jewel that actually enables man to have endurance, forbearance, and fortitude as well. Yes. He will understand that the true courage would only be obtained if (and if only) we were able to tough anything out. More, he will learn that he should never expect things to happen, but put in the effort to make them happen. Daren’t we be courageous, how else? Don’t weep over difficulties; otherwise climb over them. Take a look on Susi who strived in survival on her past, and Najwa who bravely speaks for truth in gentleness. They are the exemplaries of the true courage.

Next, keep your faith. Set your best foot forward and have the faith in your heart. This world has many challenges, you have to work so very hard and cannot rely on luck. When at first you may not succeed. It is alright as you already take a step. Remember! Learning is an ongoing process. Result comes from effort. Look at Thomas Alva Edison. He had failed 10000 times before he really invented the light. Also Andy Noya, who was determined to be a journalist since childhood. He had to struggle for years in plight to fulfill all he had been dreaming of. Many used to ridicule them. But once they succeeded, they just aroused the universe. So try and try again. Overcome each test.

Another key is even-mindedness. It does literally enable you to think good, to speak good, and to do good. But how? Let’s look at Nelson Mandela. He had been through the times he was being humiliated and treated severely. Yet, he shooed all those bad things away. He chose for peace rather than violence. Weren’t it him, Africa would still have been in a misery today. Likewise, Gandhi did the similar thing too to fight against imperialism. He would rather prevent than incline conflict in which it led people to killing one another. So, shouldn’t we take a leaf from them?

It does matter enormously what we think. Do not entertain thoughts which are evil. Let the good and the bad breathe. And let the good thoughts flow into our minds more and more. It is said that not out of right practice comes right thinking but out of right thinking comes right practice. Then, we will learn how to guard our speech. Anies Baswedan is an exemplary for all of us. He was well-accustomed to controlling himself in every time he gave speech, thinking rightly and speaking smoothly like a flowing water. It doesn’t matter what the thing is. It is the attitude of mind that is important, not the object before is. Thereupon, out of right speaking and right thinking inevitably must flow right acting. As we act up to the highest we can see, our vision will become clearer, and our ear more sensitive. Unawares, we are forging ourselves into great character. That is the way to be an even-minded person.

LIVE THIS LIFE! Create a value of your own. Do not waste your energy with insignificant thoughts. It is important since we have been given only 24 hours a day. However, don’t we want to live each day fully, and successfully? We can do anything that we set our minds to. And we have unlimited potential that can be developed properly. We can learn from Plato, Einstein, and Copernicus, who have fully optimized their potential; also Habibie, Kusrin, and Masril Koto.

Be meaningful to all the people. Every moment has meaningful lessons. Do what we love and love what we do, in joy. Fill your life with meaningful deeds. Happiness could not be found by fulfilling all we have desired, but by making others smile, sharing charity to one another, being a friend for those in loneliness. That is the meaningful life.

Don’t be the plaything of circumstances. Life can be hard and complicated. We wish we could immediately ease all the burdens we had been carrying on for long ago. But we need know that life is a mixture of sunshine and pleasure, teardrops and pain. Shoulder them. Yes. It is our life, the path that we have chosen. Believe! This puts an end to pain as pain merges in gladness when it endures for the sake of those we love. And lo! We literally attract the things, ideas, and circumstances to us. So it is high time we went beyond ourselves. Are we ready?

Juan Karnadi
Faculty of Engineering
University of Indonesia