Wisdom-to-share

Brian Tracy said, “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What is in it for me?” Every time I hear the word “bridge”, my mind will go to a red long bridge famous as “The Golden Gate” in San Francisco California . I had heard it many times since I was a little girl. Not only is the bridge famous, but also it related to my father’s dreams. A bridge for my father was part of his dreams; First he always wanted to build a bridge. And his explanation was “I always look for opportunity to help other and I believe the universe will help me. I want to build the bridge to help people crossing the river, to make them easier to reach the other place”.   We lived in the area where there are a big traditional market and a river in front. I remember one day my father took me to see a small bridge that he built. “Look, big or small, long or short, a bridge is a bridge. It helps us to cross the river easily”

It was June 1, 2011 Graduation day of class 2011 where I was there for my youngest daughter. The room was full with parents and teachers. My husband and I got a chance to give speech to represent parents. The ceremony started with all students came into the room; they looked so beautiful and handsome with national dress “Kebaya” and “Batik”.  The ceremony began with the national anthem and some other things. Then they introduced us. I hold my husband’s hand and we walked to the stage to deliver the speech.  I wrote the speech in English and Indonesian language. My husband read the English version and I did in Indonesian language   Standing on the stage, I remembered my wish in 2010 on graduation day for my eldest daughter.  I wished I could give a speech in front of my daughters. And a year later, my wish came true.  First lesson on that day for me was “I should always be positive and wish a good thing happen in my life” The day became more special actually

“ The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step ” Lao Tzu The journey of being a mother, it started since the baby was in the mother ’ s womb.  And I am blessed to have the opportunity to be a mother.  I have two lovely daughters who actually bring me to a journey for a thousand miles. It was summer time in 2013; arrived at Charles de Gaulle- Paris airport around 8 PM, Devina and I were a little bit tired. The weather wasn ’ t like summer; it was so cold and gloomy. We went directly to the hotel. The hotel was very small in the middle of Paris. Three days in Paris, we planed to visit some famous landmarks. The journey was not for holiday actually, the purpose was to accompany my daughter to her summer program in Pau- France.  Some of my friends asked me, “ Your daughter is 21 years already. Why you have to accompany her? You just make an excuse to visit Paris ” I visited Paris with my mother 23 years ago and I think Paris didn ’ t change as much as my

Note: This is my speech for Humorous speech contest in Kebayoran Toastmaster club on August 27, 2013. I won the second place. I didn't present exactly like I wrote. You have to be there to see when I am in action. (Thank you for reading) What do you want to be? It was a question that I asked to my high school students. Half of them said, “I want to be famous” and half of them said, “I want to be rich” And the rest said, “ I want to be Young, Famous and Rich” Ladies and Gentlemen: honorable judges, madam contest chair, What the great combination is "to be Young, Famous and Rich"  Who doesn't want it? It was also my dream. To be famous is the first step before being rich. And I looked for the easiest job to be famous…. Aha… How about to be the model, the job looked so easy, we just need to walk … one… two… three… and posed…one… two… three… and posed. I had all they needed to be the model…. Look at me…. Wait a minute!  I forgot so many th

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Mignon McLaughlin  My dearest husband Jozef, This is a letter for you on our 22nd wedding anniversary on June 22, 2013. I am happy to pass another year with you. We have been a great team as a couple and as parents to our lovely daughters. Life was not easy for us, but we did our best to go through every problem together. We learn from each other and learn to be wiser in life. You always showed your love with every picture you took and you taught me how to see the beauty of the moments that you captured from your camera. In the other hand I captured all memories in my writing. Camera is your best friend like books are my best friends. You told us your feelings with the pictures, while I told my feelings by writing notes. These are the languages we use. We show our love and care in different way but all language means the same. Both of us just want to say, “I love you and I care about you”

Martin Luther said, “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say” When I read this quotation I cannot agree more. One day I had a chance to hear a story about some unhappy marriages. Most of them started their stories from a very small thing in their life. It was so true when my friends said, “We like to collect small problem everyday and at the end we do have a big problem” We could imagine if it has been years … and years. It becomes a huge problem. And no one could handle it anymore. Once I asked, “Have you ever say to your spouse about what you want … what you wish to have in life… what is your value of life?” Most of the answers were, “It just wasted our time. Our husband would not listen and they didn’t care. Silent is golden. We were tired to argue … and argue and nothing changed” I used to be like that. At certain stage of my marriage life, I decided I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t want to talk or to discuss ab

Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana. Bill Gates This is a story I always share with my students. I called it banana episode. It was a long journey from Houston – Texas to Orlando- Florida; we wanted to visit one of my favorite places on earth Disney World. We always enjoyed our journey in my big car from one city to another city. Each trip always had  at least one story to share. My husband and my daughters started their conversation with random topic. At one moment to topic was about English language. They talked that I mispronounced some words but I was so sure about the pronunciation. They laughed about my mistakes. Definitely I couldn’t compare their English with mine. My husband studied in America for his bachelor and master degree. My daughters had the opportunity to study in junior high school in America. If I thought that was a humiliation, I might not want to speak English anymore. Since I thought I was fine with my stupidity and