I’ve been on
this earth for more than four decades. Being in a city like Jakarta, where
there are buildings that measure their age by the millennia, helps put that
brief blink of the eye into perspective. But still, it amazes me that I’ve been
around that long—I feel like I’ve barely begun.
I’m not usually one to make a big deal about my age, but as always, it has given me an opportunity to reflect. I thought I’d share a handful of lessons I’ve learned—as a helpful guide for myself as well as for those just starting out.
These lessons shine a dim light on the streets I have to navigate ahead of me, though I know I still stumble as much as I had.
1. I always swallow my pride to say I’m sorry. Being too proud to apologize is never worth it—my relationship suffers for no good benefit.
2. Slow down. Rushing is rarely worth it. Life is better enjoyed at a leisurely pace.
3. Goals aren’t as important as we think. I tried working without them for a week. Turned out, I could do amazing things without goals. And I didn’t have to manage them, cutting out on some of the bureaucracy of my life. I’m less stressed without goals, and I’m freer to choose paths I couldn’t have foreseen without them.
4. The moment is all there is. All my worries and plans about the future, all my replaying of things that happened in the past—it’s all in my head, and it just distracted me from fully living right now. I let go of all that, and just focus on what I was doing, right at this moment. In this way, for me any activity can be a Latihan Kejiwaan.
5. I’m not cool, and I’m cool with that. I wasted a lot of energy worrying about being cool. It’s way more fun to forget about that, and just be myself.
6. When I find myself swimming with all the other fishes, I will go the other way. They don’t know where they are going either.
7. I realize, I can’t read all the good books, watch all the good films, go to all the best cities in the world, try all the best restaurants, meet all the great people. But the secret is: Life is better when I don’t try to do everything. I learned to enjoy the slice of life I experience, and life turns out to be wonderful.
8. Mistakes are the best way to learn. I’m not afraid to make them. I just try not to repeat the same ones too often.
9. I have a lot left to learn. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I know almost nothing, and that I’m often wrong about what I think I know. Life has many lessons left to teach me, and I’m looking forward to them all.
I’m not usually one to make a big deal about my age, but as always, it has given me an opportunity to reflect. I thought I’d share a handful of lessons I’ve learned—as a helpful guide for myself as well as for those just starting out.
These lessons shine a dim light on the streets I have to navigate ahead of me, though I know I still stumble as much as I had.
1. I always swallow my pride to say I’m sorry. Being too proud to apologize is never worth it—my relationship suffers for no good benefit.
2. Slow down. Rushing is rarely worth it. Life is better enjoyed at a leisurely pace.
3. Goals aren’t as important as we think. I tried working without them for a week. Turned out, I could do amazing things without goals. And I didn’t have to manage them, cutting out on some of the bureaucracy of my life. I’m less stressed without goals, and I’m freer to choose paths I couldn’t have foreseen without them.
4. The moment is all there is. All my worries and plans about the future, all my replaying of things that happened in the past—it’s all in my head, and it just distracted me from fully living right now. I let go of all that, and just focus on what I was doing, right at this moment. In this way, for me any activity can be a Latihan Kejiwaan.
5. I’m not cool, and I’m cool with that. I wasted a lot of energy worrying about being cool. It’s way more fun to forget about that, and just be myself.
6. When I find myself swimming with all the other fishes, I will go the other way. They don’t know where they are going either.
7. I realize, I can’t read all the good books, watch all the good films, go to all the best cities in the world, try all the best restaurants, meet all the great people. But the secret is: Life is better when I don’t try to do everything. I learned to enjoy the slice of life I experience, and life turns out to be wonderful.
8. Mistakes are the best way to learn. I’m not afraid to make them. I just try not to repeat the same ones too often.
9. I have a lot left to learn. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I know almost nothing, and that I’m often wrong about what I think I know. Life has many lessons left to teach me, and I’m looking forward to them all.
Kalibata, South Jakarta, December 18, 2015
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