Miss Lina, How do you enjoy your life?

It was Saturday night two days before Chinese New Year 2012. I got the invitation from a good friend to have “fine dining at French Restaurant”. In my life I only had a very few time having “fine dining”, I believed not more than ten times. It was a bit awkward for me being surrounding with many forks and knifes, sometimes I made a joke about how difficult to recognize which knife can be used to cut or to kill, and it was easier for me to recognize the chopstick because they didn’t have “left or right”. Anyway my friend is a very handsome and extremely smart I couldn’t reject the opportunity to know people better, especially when the setting was in the one of the most expensive restaurant in Jakarta.

I was in a very nice restaurant with three handsome men. We talked about random topic and suddenly one of them asked me, “Miss Lina, how do you enjoy your life? “ It was like a table topic speech for me. Yes… that was really a good question for me. I don’t really like shopping; I don’t like branded stuffs, I don’t really aware with fashion and all the ladies’ hobbies to be beautiful.

It was probably hard for them to believe me. I have nothing to hide about my life. I enjoy every moment in my life. I teach every day and I become a friend for my students; I meet people from different countries. I enjoy sharing stories and I think that is what I love to do in my life and I have a big passion to do it. I see my work and my personal life is like a chocolate cake. It blended together… nothing can be separated if we want to enjoy the real chocolate cake. I put love into my work so I never think I am working… I do it with love and it becomes my happiness. Every minutes of my working time is enjoyable for me. I like to quote from Ernie Banks, “Work? I never worked a day in my life. I always loved what I was doing, had a passion for it”

And then come out a very detail question, “If you are not teaching… how you enjoy your life?” If I am not teaching, I like to write article. I think the most enjoyable moment for me if I can have a cup of coffee and to listen to light music or to share with someone about life. Once again, it is too simple.

Probably they need to ask me with multiple choice of answer. I am really a very simple person, if God gives me more time to enjoy my life; I want to repeat millions times chatting, playing and dancing with my daughters because they are the eyes of my heart. I want to build memories in the time I have. I want to enjoy the time with my husband and to write more articles.

My husband has asked me, “Do you want to buy a new house?” My answer was, “Do we need one?” My husband was curious to know more,” What do you want then?” I told my husband, “I don’t need any beautiful house because I am the one who have to take care of that. I just need you to be with me… we enjoy our time together …I want to walk hand in hand with you and I want to travel around the world and I will drink a cup coffee while you can take pictures with your camera. We will watch the music performance and we will build the memories for the rest of our life”

How do I enjoy my life? I enjoy every present, every moment and I do enjoy it. As Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Life is available only in the present moment.”

**Lina Kartasasmita** Jakarta, 30 January 2012, 8.39PM

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