Choose Your Hardness

It's been late night, and I am still awake. I decided to have suhoor earlier before sleeping, because my toddler began to sleep late. This must impact my ability to wake up earlier later. Thus, to reduce the potential of harming my belly, I need around an hour before sleeping after meal time. To have that one hour getting passed quickly, I decided to write. The topic I want to highlight today is about accepting the reality, feeling grateful for our life today, and doing all of our duty with disciplined and well planned organizing. 

 Starting for the first point, that is accepting the reality means a lot of thing. Life would never be easy for everyone. Everyone must have some reasons to complain. Although a very rich person, s/he must have some reason to complain. Life is never ideal for everyone. That is why, we need to have this formula, that is accepting the reality. Sometimes, we come to a situation we cannot control. Sometimes, we have some choices to select. Stoic had said that to get some authentic happiness, we need to know our own limit. We can highlight what points that we can control and what points we can not. After margining them, we then try to know that, if a thing happened within our power, then the following consequences are under our control. However, if we should face something without our power, just let it be and let it flow. We need to train ourselves, and say repeatedly that just let it be. Whatever will be, will be. It seems hard to practice, but absolutely we have some choices. Letting a complex situation happened and letting some emotions we have to flow and well expressed, means we have won from ourselves, the biggest winning for a human being.

 The second point is about feeling grateful for our present life. I need to say congratulations for everyone of us, because we have passed many obstacles and hard life behind. Congratulations for not giving up, but we chose to stand and face them. The advice of Imam Syafii about life is truly applicable for us. The enjoyment of life would be tasted beautifully after we got being exhausted of struggling. Struggling and hardness of life are two points we need to pass to have a new perspective. We need to loose our precious things to know that it is very precious for our life. We need to miss something we like just to know how to appreciate it in total. In fact, a man would feel the same as others if he experienced similar thing. However, the point here is not about that, but how do we need to appreciate ourselves about what we have passed behind. If we think we are not special, we are not worth to appreciate, just rethink and say that you are alive until today, this time because we have some duties from Allah, because we are special so we are given that trust from Allah. Allah just gives special things for every human He trusts. That is why, it is a must for us to appreciate His trust for us.

 The third point is actually continuing the second one. To appreciate our life, let us fill the time we have with productive things. The productivity here must need consistency, commitment and discipline. Never stop learning productive things we have. Never stop being consitent, day to day to reach the goals of life we have. Never stop training ourselves with hardness and firm, with rewards and punishment. Before judging others, we must judge ourselves. Had time we have behind being used wisely, productively, or we just spent them less usefulness? Time flies. That is why, we need to evaluate our day everyday, just to have a meaningful life. Meaningful life means, we are useful for others, we can help others.

 For closing, I want to highlight this quote that is life would never be easy for everyone, but we can choose our hardness. Being disciplined is hard, being lazy is hard too, choose your hard. Being obesity is hard, being fit and healthy is hard too, choose your hard. Being kind is hard, being rude is hard too, choose your hard. Being useful is hard, being less useful is hard too, choose your hard. 

 That is all for today. Thanks for reading this note. Good night.

Blitar, March 24th, 2024