I’ve just finished reading The Bell Jar, it was her only published novel before her suicide. Her story about depression she suffered from in the novel is to give readers comprehension how it feels to live in a distorted image, as seen through a bell jar.
Human as seen from the bell jar
At first the novel was funny. I even laughed at some parts where her thoughts wittily mocked her peers, jokingly or not. But as I read the book, it became darker and more serious. It hooked me up and I couldn’t stop reading the book. In the later part of the book did she explain her experience with depression and her struggles.
Depression is an interesting topic. Many take it lightly and even romanticize it, thinking it’s cool be depressed or okay to self-diagnose. But as explained in the novel, there is nothing beautiful about depression. Esther, Sylvia’s alter ego in the novel, couldn’t write nor read because of the depression she suffered from. She could not even sleep for days and it was like hell for her. She sought help because she couldn’t stand her condition.
There was no clear reason of her depression. But her fig tree quote, shown below, showed how she wanted to be everything. She could not decide, and she was afraid that she ended up being nothing. I can relate to this trigger because now I am in my early twenties, the same age her she was in the novel, and I want to be everything. I have so many ambitions and I am not patient enough to wait for things to happen. I force things to happen, but I am incapable of writing my future and it drives me crazy.
And often, I just lay on the floor doing nothing because I just can’t do anything. I feel that my passion is sucked out. But after I read this novel, I learn to be more patient. Because honestly, I don’t want to end up like Sylvia Plath. I want to embrace life. I don’t want to be in an asylum or have electroshock therapy. I want to be happy and grateful for what I have.
Lately it’s been a really though days for me. I’ve been choosing between the bad and the good, call it a dilemma. And between those two, there are consequences. It may be the effect of adulting. I will be 23 years old by the end of the year and it’s really shocking me. Like heyyyy, what should I do with all these responsibilities? Aren’t I supposed to receive some form of instruction or walkthrough to guide me to do things in life?
I love playing Pokemon a lot, not just that Pokemon Go where you wander around people’s yard to catch Pokemons, but as well as the old games that have story. I am obsessed with plans. I always plan what pokemons which will be in my party that I can win the games effectively. I also like to reset my game when I make a mistake i.e. making my pokemon faint in battles (Pokemon will become unfriendly if they faint during battles). I want my pokemon gameplay to be perfect.
The thing is that I want my life to be perfect, too. That is impossible because I made mistakes. So allow me to lower my standard; I want my life to be fun and I don’t want to be buried deep in regrets in the future. Regrets always come late, and that’s why plan is very important. I am obsessed with plans and I will get really upset when my plan doesn’t work.
Many people have, in fact, written gigazillion books about how you can plan your life so you will be thriving and successful. I’ve read some of them and they are inspiring. They help me to see life in different perspective. They also move me to try new things, create habits, and learn a skill. But, to be honest, these habits are very hard to follow. Not that I never try it. I did.
This experiment reminds me of one of Buzzfeed videos I watched on YouTube in which three guys followed Entrepreneur’s habit. It includes waking up at 5 a.m., no phone in the first two hours after waking up, exercising, taking a bath, and so on. These three guys suffered. I could tell because I was once also interested to try to follow these so called successful habits.
I made a schedule because successful people do that. My days are going to be strict and productive I supposed . My schedule included waking up at 5 a.m., then pray, then read Quran, then exercise for an hour, then cooking breakfast, then learn new skill. I work at 11 so I have a lot of free time. Also my schedule looks pretty neat.
The hardest part of it was waking up at 5 a.m., so I bought my self an alarm clock. I can’t depend on my phone because it’s not very loud. I could actually wake up at 5 a.m., and I was, surprisingly, also excited. Then I went out to Masjid to pray. After finishing it, I was supposed to read the quran. But I didn’t. I went back to bed, thinking that I would work at 11 a.m. and need a lot of rest. I slept till 8 and that went like that for a week.
A week after, I can’t even wake up at 5 a.m. When I do wake up at 5 a.m., I feel so tired and needy of more sleep, causing me to go back to bed even before doing anything, and finally wake up for good at 8. Now I’m very stressed. I am aware that waking up at 8 isn’t good because I’m wasting those three hours that I could use to do important things. But since my job works at 11, I feel like I need to reward my self with more hours to sleep.
It’s like that “expectation versus reality memè.” I always expect things to happen the way I want: smoothly and perfect, but in reality, possibility of error is always there. In my case, it’s hard to do things that I plan. I don’t always have “that” motivation. The strongest force that can move me is when I have financial problem, I can’t afford to do things or buy things I want. That force doesn’t stay long.
When it’s gone, my motivation is gone. I know in general I need what’s called “WILLPOWER.” so we can change. Change is really important. We need to evolve to the better version of ourselves. And to change, there are actions that need to be done. I fail at this. I always want to change and constantly improve, yet I fail to be consistent. It’s easy to say “tomorrow I’ll wake up so early and then do this and that.” but when it’s finally “tomorrow,” the cold morning air makes it hard to get up, or then I end up watching web series on YouTube. Then after time passes, I just lay there questioning my role in life.
There’s a proverb saying “Not even a donkey falls into the same hole twice.” yet here I am doing things I always regret over and over again.
On November this year, Suzanna: Bernapas dalam Kubur, the long-awaited Indonesian horror movie was finally released. I was really excited because the movie was a remake from two classic movies played by Suzanna, namely Bernafas dalam Lumpur (1970) and Beranak dalam Kubur (1971). Before I watched the movie, I had the urge to check the movies played by Suzanna and had come across the most popular one, which was Sundelbolong (1981). I read that the movie established Suzanna’s name as the Icon of Indonesian Horror movie.
Sundelbolong (1981) told the story of an ex prostitute named Alisa who married a ship’s captain, Hendarto. A day after their wedding, Hendarto had to sail for some weeks while Alisa stayed at home. Being good at designing clothes, Alisa got an offering from a boutique owner, Rudi, to work together. He was attracted by Alisa’s beauty and seduced her, but Alisa rejected him and went home.
On her way home, Alisa was kidnapped by Rudi and his friends. They brought her to a warehouse and raped her. Alisa was pregnant. She was frustrated because she was afraid that her husband would go home and find out. She tried to hurt herself to abort her baby but she failed. She also visited doctor to have an abortion but the doctor refused the request because it was “a sin” and thus would make him a sinner. She became really hopeless and decided to push the baby out herself. She was killed and became a ghost of Sundelbolong to revenge her enemies.
ABORTION ISSUE
I didn’t expect her death that way. I watched the movie when I was younger and didn’t remember much. I thought she was murdered when she was being raped. But her choice to do abortion by herself made me feel terrible. Alisa didn’t have to lose her life if only the doctor had not refused her request of abortion.
It was an old movie and laws in Indonesia had changed rapidly. But it can’t be denied that this issue still happens. Rape victims in this country and other countries still have difficulty in accessing legal abortion. Therefore, a further analysis concerning abortion is needed for the sake of the victims’ mental and physical health issue.
RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON ABORTION
In the movie, the doctor didn’t grant Alisa’s request for abortion because he considered it as an act of sin and therefore would make him a sinner. Major religions like Islam, Christianity, Catholic, and Buddhism oppose abortion and consider it as an act of murder. In following paragraph, I will just discuss abortion in the view of Islam because I am a Muslim and afraid that I will have misunderstanding discussing the details of other religion.
Islamic scholars always depend on Quranic verses and Hadiths as their sources of law. In the QS 5:32, sanctity of life is prioritized and based on the verse is that abortion opposed. Quran also states in Chapter 17 verse 32 “not to kill your offspring for fear of poverty…” which clearly forbids abortion from a mother who is afraid if she cannot afford feeding their kids. Generally Muslims regard abortion as wrong and forbidden.
However, some Islamic scholars permit abortion in the first 16 weeks, while others only permit in the first 7 weeks. The conditions that allow abortion in this condition is when the maternal health is in danger, it may cause trauma for the victims of rape, or when the baby is in unhealthy condition. Later than the periods mentioned, it is only permissible to operate abortion when the mother’s life is in danger.
SHOULD SOCIETY ACCEPT ABORTION?
BUT outside religious dogma, society has been really harsh concerning abortion issue. Without really understanding, people always judge that who commit abortion will go to hell and be punished in the afterlife. This kind of baseless judgment harms the victims. As human being, one should support one another. Judgment should not be easily thrown away to people. We should be able to control our self from hurting other people.
ABORTION LAW IN INDONESIA
In Indonesia the laws about abortion have been arranged. Generally, those who are involved in abortion operation can be imprisoned for 4 years to 15 years. Victims of rape may have abortion if it is done in the first 40 days and after counseling. The law needs to be questioned. Victims of rape must undergo traumatic stress and not able to talk about her experience, especially when it’s recent. They have to overcome their stress and sadness to even tell their closest relatives, let alone the court. The process takes time and it can be more than 40 days. That’s why I believe that the law should be more flexible.
From the movie Sundelbolong, Alisa did report the case to the court. However, the court didn’t believe her because she couldn’t bring in any witness. It is common from women not to be able to defend themselves because the court doesn’t believe them from not having clear proof. Court will just hang the victims to dry in court.
The possibility of getting imprisoned also makes rape victims feel reluctant to report the rape case to the police. It happened to a girl in Jambi who was sentenced for 15 years. She was raped by her own brother 9 times, got pregnant, and had an illegal abortion. What she got was 15 years time in jail. That makes no sense and causes riot from feminism activists.
ILLEGAL ABORTION CLINICS
Indonesia should not overlook the issue of abortion. The strict limitation of abortion results in many illegal abortions clinics. The operation is done by unprofessional medics and is unsafe for the life of the mother and many results in maternal death. Women also end up in choosing more dangerous ways of abortion, including having someone fingering the woman’s vagina and leaving her to bleed, because it’s cheaper.
Women should be able to sought for help and counseling. With the current stigma, it is just not possible.
Everyone has to be educated in the issue of abortion, so they will understand why some women choose to have abortion. The law should also be reconstructed and the period of pregnancy for abortion should be longer. We have to fight for the current stigma so there will be no more victims of rape who have to end their lives.
Books are sources of knowledge, which is cool. They lend us the mind of great people. Some of them transfer us to places we never knew existed, or lecture us about political system which is hard to understand, or may also reflect to our memories that we can’t express in words. Personally for me, books are the best mentors. They give the best advices and visions of life. They expand my sense of imagination, but also strike me the perks of being in reality.
I am a firm believer in the theory that everybody loves reading. If you hate books, it’s because you haven’t found the right book for you. The sad fact is that, not all books are good. Some of them are poorly written or that they lack knowledge. Therefore, I am writing this list of books which I recommend reading, so hopefully you will find a book or two or even more that you will enjoy reading:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rich Dad Poor Dad
I used to consider the topic of Finance very boring and too mundane, until the reality forced me to study about the money. I, then, read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and it changed my point of view. The knowledge of Finance is important. Because as bitter as it sounds, lacking of money is never good. The book basically speaks about how we should (and we can) get out of the “rat race,” the term used by Robert to refer the relationship between the income and the outcome of the middle class people.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time
The book is about a boy named Christopher who suffers from Autism. He lives with his own rules, and has difficulty in engaging social activity. One night, his neighbor’s dog died. He noticed that the incident was unusual and did an investigation. What interests me, though, is not his trial in solving the case, but what’s inside his mind. From the book, I managed to understand that human has different way of thinking and always has reason behind their (unique) behavior. This book, in that way, makes me less judgmental. Therefore this book is in my top recommendation.
The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Every teenager has problems. They may have traumatic issues, difficulties in growing up, and life crisis. What matters is how they cope with the struggles caused by their problems. The story in the book is about a boy named Charlie who is struggling with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He wrote a letter to a stranger to share his story. I wish I had read this book when I was fifteen (I was 18 when I read this) because it would have helped me a lot in understanding the phase of being a teenager; that it’s okay to be different and it’s very important to accept yourself. But it’s never too late to read the book, because truthfully, this book made me stronger to cope with reality.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Looking For Alaska
For me, this book is the epitome of young adult novels. Set in a high school, this book shares a story of a student whose life changed when she met a girl. The girl, Alaska, is very unique and makes the story fierce, while the narrator, Miles, is a guy whose life has been very ordinary. Rather than being a philosophical book about growing up, it’s more of an entertainment book which makes you wish you had lived through the story. John Green book always has educational side, though, including this book. So you will still learn.
The 100: a ranking of the most influential persons in history by Michael H. Hart
The 100
You can always learn from someone’s life. And therefore, biography is a fine source of knowledge. You have to read biographies of the people whose contribution matters to your interest. This book, anyway, lists the life of 100 persons from various fields namely religious/political leaders, scientist, activist etc. Reading their story and acknowledging their hard work help me in widening my point of view and being a more rational human being. I realise that they have done a lot, and that inspires me to do the same. This book also informed me a wide range of world’s history. Truly an essential reading.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist
Santiago dreams that he will find a treasure in Egyptian Pyramids. So, he carries a journey to Africa. Along the way, he meets various people from whom he learns the philosophy of life.
This book is mainly about a journey of a guy following where his dream leads him to, which also proves that your heart will lead you to a place you need to be. Life is adventurous, and sitting quietly won’t take you anywhere. This book is recommended because it will wake that adventurous side within you.
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games Trilogy
To survive is the basic instinct of human. But, “to kill or to be killed” which centers the idea of The Hunger Games, is not on everyone’s mind. And Katniss, the main character, had proved that killing was not always the answer to survival. She rebelled and fought her way to the victory. The series is recommended because it basically taught me to be brave and not to foolishly bow down to social norms. One needs to rebell and fights for their right.
LOCAL BOOKS
Trilogi Negeri 5 Menara by Ahmad Fuadi
Trilogi Negeri 5 Menara
What I love the most from this book is how it’s written. Not that it’s as beautifully written as the books of Hamka, but the series of the event in the trilogy are well elaborated. This book is the personal life of the author, Ahmad Fuadi. In the book, the author represents himself as the main character namely Alif Fikri. He envisions how Alif Fikri fights hard to achieve his dream, step to step, and eventually proves that hard work does pay off. This is the kind of book that makes me believe that dreams come true and sparks my hope. And I want you to also spark your hope by reading this trilogy. Many people assume the books as Islamic books while they are more of motivational book, like the next book.
Mimpi Sejuta Dolar by Alberthiene Endah
Mimpi Sejuta Dollar
This book shared the life’s story of Merry Riana. In 1998 she had to fly to Singapore and went to Nanyang Technical University to avoid the chaos that happened in Indonesia. She told us how she had to survive with $300 a month in Singapore. That with the money, she hardly could eat three times a day. Although for me, it’s a bit dramatic since many students who have to survive with less than the sum of money, or even worse, do not have the opportunity to continue studying in University.
The later part of the book which explained how Merry Riana wanted to be financially stable before the age of 30 and her hard work to achieve that made me in love with this book. She didn’t want to be a company’s staff because she wouldn’t be rich quickly from that way. She then decided to be salesperson of an insurance company and continued her hard work. This book inspired me to think differently from other people and that I need to to step out of my comfort zone to be successful.
Saman by Ayu Utami
Saman
The challenge of reading local literature book is finding the right one. Most books written before 1960s are very beautifully written but the stories are no longer relevant and thus boring, while ones written after 1960s have wide range of impressive stories but they are so poorly written. Saman, however, is one of the few local books I fall in love with that doesn’t fall into either of the categories.
The author, Ayu Utami, has a very high sense of literature. The words in the book are carefully picked. She also has done a good research, leaving little space to be criticized. Although, the stories in the book are a little too varied for a 197-page-book, they are enjoyable. This book discusses feminism, politics, spirituality, and other social issues which are mostly still relevant to this day. I am very impressed by the impact of the book to Indonesian literature and political views. My personal favorite.
“Seperti nasihat Kiai Rais dulu, muara manusia adalah menjadi hamba sekaligus khallifah di muka bumi. Sebagai hamba, tugas kita mengabdi. Sebagai khalifah, tugas kita bermanfaat. Hidup adalah pengabdian. Dan kemanfaatan”
Rantau 1 Muara adalah buku ketiga dari trilogi Buku Ahmad Fuadi setelah Negeri 5 Menara, dan Ranah 3 Warna secara berurut. Bukan rahasia lagi, buku-buku ini adalah jurnal dan catatan perjalanan penulis yang dijadikan novel, bisa disebut “biographical novel.” Kadang saya sendiri juga tidak terlalu yakin bagaimana bisa buku ini ditulis berdasarkan kehidupan seseorang. Kisah kehidupan penulis sebagai latar belakang novel seruh dan penuh highlights, membuat saya haus untuk tau membalikkan lembar lembar halaman buku. Dari bagaimana dia mengatasi masalah kehidupan, bersosial, dan terus mengejar ilmu, kehidupan penulis sekarang menjadi bagian dari literatur Indonesia.
Dengan genre edukasinya yang kental, begitu banyak pelajaran dan motivasi yang bisa diambil dari novel-novel ini. Seperti menyimpan gaya kinetik, cerita yang disajikan siap memberikan gaya dorong kepada pembaca untuk mengejar impian. Karena memang di trilogi buku ini, penulis tidak pelit ilmu dalam menulis langkah-langkah menuju sukses penulis secara terelaborasi dan bagaimana penulis pada akhirnya mencapai sukses. Jika dilihat dari sebatas biodata singkat penulis, penulis seperti dengan mudah dapat bergerak dari satu fase hidup ke fase hidup lain yang lebih baik. Namun jika dilihat secara detail, saya belajar berapa banyak malam-malam sepi yang dilewati penulis untuk mencapai targetnya. Penulis harus konsisten dengan apa yang dia lakukan selama bertahun-tahun dan selalu berpegang teguh kepada tiga mantra yang dia pelajari ketika mondok, yaitu:
Man jadda wajada (Siapa yang bersungguh-sungguh akan berhasil)
Man shabara zhafira (Siapa yang bersabar akan beruntung)
Man saara ala darbi washala (Siapa yang berjalan di jalannya akan sampai di tujuan)
Bagi saya, ada yang spesial di novel Rantau 1 Muara. Buku ini seperti mencakup kedua cerita sebelumnya menjadi satu dan menyajikan akhir cerita yang memuaskan. Di sinilah letak realita kehidupan, mengenai bagaimana penulis bisa menjadi dirinya yang sekarang. Dari pengalaman kerja menjadi jurnalis, mengejar beasiswa fullbright, dan mencari jodoh. Penulis seperti membongkar habis rahasianya. Rantau 1 Muara adalah klimaks trilogi dan sebenarnya paling cocok dijadikan biografi dan bahan ajar untuk pengembangan diri untuk kita yang berusaha berkembang. Bagian favorit saya adalah akhirnya ketika Alif, Atang, dan Raja bagian dari Shahibul menara (dalam cerita Negeri 5 Menara) yang bertemu kembali di Inggris dan bernostalgia ria. Penulis juga memberikan informasi singkat kondisi anggota Shahibul Menara yang lain. Hebatnya mereka menjadi individual yang masing-masing mereka impikan ketika mereka masih di Pondok Madani.
Bagi saya, ketiga buku ini seperti saudara laki-laki saya yang lebih tua yang tak henti-hentinya bercerita tentang pahit indahnya kehidupannya dan di waktu yang sama memberikan nasihat kepada saya. Ketika membaca dua buku sebelumnya, saya masih di bangku kuliah dan memiliki kesalahan cara pikir. Saya masih membatasi diri saya untuk berani hidup di luar zona aman. Namun setelah buku ketiga ini, saya sadar bahwa ilmu itu hanya berguna jika diterapkan. Semua buku yang saya baca hanya berguna jika saya memutuskan untuk melakukan nasihat apa yang buku tersebut petuahkan. Pesan untuk saya pribadi adalah saya harus lebih berani dan bertekad lebih untuk mencapai mimpi saya.
One of the most important things that I learned last year was about my egocentric issue: I’m not the center of the universe.
I couldn’t believe that. How can someone as good-looking as me not be worshiped, adored, and understood? I expected that to happen. I used to be silent and quiet about what I demand and I was too proud to ask. I mean I just can’t bluntly say what I want. Where’s my honor and pride in asking? “Duh. That’s barbaric.”
I expected people, and by people I mean everybody, to know what I want, adore me, and give me attention.
Centre of universe
I was clearly drowning deep down in that messy delusion. I never tried to speak even though I never got anything I wanted when I didn’t ask. Or worse, I even said no to things I wanted because I didn’t want to say yes and expected people to just give me the damn thing without my permission (because that would mean I say yes and I ask for that. DUH).The output was; I didn’t get anything. I couldn’t just telepathically tell people what I wanted and have them give it to me.
Then I met someone. He noticed that I was a very shy person and not open. He told me that it wasn’t good. We talked furthermore about personality and attitudes and more importantly, how being shy will never get me to places and that I should be able to open my mouth more. I have to change.
He also told me that it could be a cultural problem because the culture in the East teach the people to be more polite and preserve our thoughts in mind because they might hurt when spoken loudly. While the culture in the West teaches the people to be brave and speak out when things get in their way. They can talk actively and say what they like and don’t.
For instance, the western people may often complain when a waitress doesn’t serve well in the diner, while in Asia complaining might be impolite. Although it could be a stereotype. The difference between the two may be too general because I know a lot of people in my country who talk without filtering their words. So let me just outline the status quo, some people are more open than the others. I’d prefer that. It depends on their personality.
I was never an open person. I was like a book glued. When people told me to tell them my story, it was always just few sentences that weren’t enough to make a paragraph. It was really hard to just talk to new people and tell them what I like or not.
I was reluctant to complaining some unprofessional service. Once, I was in restaurant and my meal was barely cooked and my friend told me to have it replaced. I said no and just ate the meal like a fool (it tasted horrible). He then told the waitress though and they had it replaced.
I never asked for anything, I even refused politely things offered for me even though I liked it. It was because I was a really shy person. But I know it would never bring me anything. I then stumbled upon a Madonna’s quote
“A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want.” – Madonna
Madonna
I damn sure now that I want to get what I want, and to achieve the purpose, I have to fight for it. Therefore, I learn to be more open and communicate. In my heart, I always think that people couldn’t care less of what I am saying and I probably bore them to death. But I force my self to talk. I learn how to communicate because it is one of the most important skills. I learn how to talk to people and explain. I examine talkative people and see how they can keep talking. I want to be able to talk the right words at the right time.
Now I talk more and become more open I socialize and it makes me more alive and braver. Aren’t human social creatures? I still get nervous of course, but I fight it. I realize how necessary it is to socialize.
I want to get what I want, and I talk my way through it. Always think twice when talking, however. Words can get what you want but they can hurt when used incorrectly.
The point is, you just have to be more open to people and stop limiting your self from socializing. It’s never cool to be that person who is sitting in the corner, being quiet, and can’t utter a word or two.
What’s cool is to be able to blend in a group, talk in a good manner, and make people listen to you.
Being more open teaches me a lot of things. I now accept that I am not that special kid who deserves all attention and everything under the sun. I am not a special kid and that’s okay for me.
I realize I am not the center of the universe, and never will be. I have to fight for what I want instead of waiting around for I want to be magically given. I never expect people to understand me anymore. I tell them things I want them to understand.
What I believe now is that everyone has their own life. None of us is the center of the universe, we are the universes. We are not sure what the center is yet, but we orbit each other to make a system work.
Who you’re meant to be evolves from where you are right now
The Creator has given you full responsibility for your life, and with that responsibility comes an amazing privilege—the power to give yourself the love, affection, and intimacy you may not have received as a child. You are the one best mother, father, sister, friend, cousin, and lover you will ever have.
Making a bold move is the only way to advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you.
What I know for sure is that whatever your situation is right now, you have played a major role in creating it.
“Ask, and it shall be given … seek, and ye shall find.”
Getting older is the best thing that ever happened to me.
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do” -Epictetus
Freedom is about having a choice.
Over the years, I’ve heard many people lamenting why God allows this or that. Another lesson: People suffer not because of what God does but because of what we do and do not do
Ignoring problems is easier, for sure, but if we take even tiny steps to address them, those steps eventually become giant leaps on the journey to self-actualization.
This I know for sure is what matters. For me, it’s the only goal worth aiming for: a transformation of consciousness that allows me to know that I am no better or worse than any other being. That I simply am.
“We must travel in the direction of our fear.“ – John Berryman, poet, 1914-72
To our beds, in the well-lit rooms, do we find comfort. But men won’t live until outside of their comfort zone. However, I’m here lying on my bed and getting comfort, after going to my college merely to take my grade paper and then playing Pokemon Go for hours. I find my self lack of motivation and suffering. If not, why would I still lay my self?
Kalau aku lahir di antara gunung di tengah gurun, mungkin anginnya akan mengajari ku untuk berdiri lebih tegak, dan mataharinya melatih ku lebih bersabar.
Di sana aku tak akan mengeluh karena aku tahu betul; di lautan pasir mengeluh hanya mengantarkan kematian atau kegilaan.
Aku lalu belajar kepada para musafir, mengagumi cara mereka bertahan hidup, cara mereka bertahan di tengah ranjau pasir, untuk menerima kenyataan bahwa di antara mereka, matahari tadi mungkin adalah yang terakhir baginya.
-fachry mohammed, dec 2017
There are books that will take you a day or two to finish, like John Green’s books, because they are very interesting. And there are books that will take you more than a month, even though they are less than 300 pages thick, because you mostly sleep through reading them, or wander off so you have to reread the pages God Knows how many.
Think & Grow Rich falls to the latter category. Not that it is not a good book, but it is not interesting. I read the first edition so it may be one of the reasons. There are several reasons why I am not really into this book:
The language used in the books is outdated
The human examples in the book are cliche
The book seems to be intended for men the gender
It uses the term “ether”
It is repetitive
It doesn’t really motivate me
well the last reason could be my fault. But this book isn’t that moving. Even though each chapter is a step towards riches. It isn’t actually a real step. It’s not that WikiHow article that tells you to do something step by step practically. This book is a Philosophy book that instead of telling you how to get riches, tells you how to evaluate your self then you will find that way to be riches. I mean I am curious if the author was already rich before publishing this book.
If you are looking for some actual steps to be rich without some long ass time to evaluate your self, this book isn’t for you. But if you want to know what’s wrong with yout self and why you are stuck in poverty then it is for you! I will probably love this book if I get the recent edition with some updated language. But of course, there are also reasons why this is one of the suggested books when you google self-improvement books.
The most important reason is that the book was written blatantly. The author doesn’t sugarcoat his advices and telling the readers that riches is all about having your family secured while struggling to pay College tuition. Riches is having money but not making it the root of your happiness.
Self analysis questions are also there in the book. They are fun to take and details. This kind of analysis is very helpful indeed when you are stuck in reading and wandering if you can actually relate to what you read. But you have to be honest to your self. And I said earlier, it is more philosophical. And it’s good if you enjoy thoughts.
You also can’t be half follow this book if you want to actually benefit from it. There’s a warning in the preface. It’s not an easy book but it leads me to question, are there actual people who become rich following the advices?
Anyway here is a quote I really like from the book and sum up the book
Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with presistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.
Thoughts Exhibition 