Dream, Believe, and Make It Happen

Before reading this blog, can you answer these below questions?

What are you going to do in the next 10 years?

What do you want to be in the future?

What is your dream?

After answer those questions, can you think of the answers of these questions?

Have you tell anyone about your dream?

Did people think that you're not gonna make your dream comes true?

Did people say, "Naaaa, you ain't gonna make it.. Keep dreaming!"

If you answered the questions already, let's take a look at this.

I know some of your dreams are might be out of reach (if you answered it honestly). Some of you might wanna be a President, an international soccer player, a successful businessman, a singer, an actor, or even a billionaire. Most of you also might think that you're just gonna keep it in your mind because you don't think that it's gonna happen. Probably only 1 out of 100 people in the world would think it is gonna happen in anytime in your life. Is it right?

Dream, is a very strong word. Dream, is not a thing that only stay in your head when you sleep. Dream, is not a wish. Dream is a HOPE, hope is something that you will reach. Dream is something that you BELIEVE that is going to happen in your life. You might heard about miracle. Miracle wouldn't be a miracle if it wasn't exist before.

When you have a dream, and you don't believe it, then it is NOT going to happen. It is so a simple logic of thinking. The another strong word is Believe in your dream. Like what i wrote before, people would say that you are not gonna make it. That is because people do not believe in your dream! Does what people think matters to you? Do people make your future? No! It's YOU that make your own future, not what people think of you.

For some of you that told people about your 'unachievable' dream, you probably heard people said that you are an Arrogant person. It is not arrogant! It's what we called confidence. Confidence means you trust yourself, you believe yourself. It gives you strength and make you believe that you will reach what you wanna reach. If you don't have confidence, means you don't believe in yourself, and it also means you don't believe people that close with you are going to help you to make your dream comes true. Remember, It's not only you, you have people around you, your friends, relatives, family, that will try hard to make you reach your dream.

Some of you might found some excuses (read my previous blog ; What makes us different). Some of you would think you couldn't make your dream comes true because you are not capable to make it, because you don't have enough luck to get a talent as good as anyone else. People! There is no such a thing called luck! Luck is word created by people who regret their incapability. Luck created by an thing called effort. Effort is something you created by working hard. Talent is not a luck. It is an incredible gift from God which all people were given since they were born no matter how small it is. So what do you suggest? are you keep finding your excuses or try to find your way to make your dream and 'luck' come after you?

Make it Happen, is the most important thing to reach your dream, to believe your dream, to believe in yourself. Dream and believe is important elements. But if you don't make it happen, you dream will only stuck in your head. it is not going to happen. So what's the point of dreaming and believing? Yes, you have to make it happen! You have to be optimist! Believe yourself! Believe you dream! Believe you are gonna make it! Forget about what people said about your dream! Forget about you 'unreachable' thought! Start to make your dream comes true!

Life does not come twice. If you keep waiting for a second chance, then it means you failed.

People failed because they think they failed.

Keep dreaming, keep believing, then Make sure that you have to make it happen!

P.S: this post was inspired from Dream, Believe, and Make it Happen by US Embassy

As the Time Goes By

11-01-11

it's January, 11th 2011. Lots of things happened since the last time i posted.

What's so special about this number? People are planning to do something special today. Me myself don't find any special thing. Still doing my job and study (ha! i wish!). I am pretty happy with my life. Lets see what else happened on the beginning of this year.

1. A very memorable AFF event where Indonesia lost the match from Malaysia. Indonesia is the best team with no lost (before the final match). On final match against Malaysia, oh they have two matches btw, home and away. first match was in Bukit Djalil, Malaysia. I still remember at the time #Garudafightsback, #Indonesia, and #Malaysiacheatlaser became trend topics on twitter. Hilarious! On the first final match in Bukit Djalil, Malaysian supporters were awful. They throw laser on Markus (goalkeeper) of Indonesia to distract him. At the end, Indonesia lost 3-0. On the second match, we won 2-1, but we lost the trophy because of the aggregate score. But everybody knows that Indonesia is the real champion.
   
2. #Nurdinturun. Nurdin Halid is the head of PSSI. Chaos happened in Belora Bung Karno when Indonesian supporters insisted to buy ticket to watch the final match between Indonesia and Malaysia in GBK. One man died, but it wasn't because of the radical queue, he died because of sickness. Indonesian supporters want Nurdin Halid to leave his position as the head of PSSI but until this time, he doesn't want to leave his seat.
   
3. Gayus around the world. This legendary man is the key master to many tax corruption case. Now, he's been prosecuted as the man who's guilty in the tax case. As a prosecutor, he is supposed to be in jail. What's interesting with this guy is, he went around the world (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Macao, and Bali) to watch a tennis tournament. He uses silly wig!

Those are just some of the things that happened lately. We'll continue later!

Turkey and Pie! Finally :D

Every Thursday, Third week on November is always be a Thanksgiving day. Lots of turkey, Pumpkin pie, Dip, Mashed Potatoes with gravy sauce, yummy i know, are always be fascinating things as dinner. Oh and don't forget the stuffing!

For all of you who might don't know what stuffing is, it's a mix of bread, turkey, and some spices, all together become one. In a tradition, as my host father said, Americans usually put the stuffing in the turkey (yes, IN the turkey) and put in on the oven. Owh i still remember how it smells.. We usually eat it with mashed potatoes and gravy sauce also. Delicious!

Well, as you know, it's been three years since my last Thanksgiving in United States and two days ago me and bunch of YES Alumni got the invitation to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mr. Ambassador at his house. It was really nice (big) house with bunch of food. Mr. Ambassador and all the embassy staffs are really nice and very welcome to greet us.

After little opening speech, he sliced the turkey as a sign for us to start the dinner that located on his dining room. We were all very excited with the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and etc.
After the dinner, Mr. Ambassador and all his staffs were mingling so they could chat with all of us. This is why i love Americans, very appreciative, and very warm, warmer than Indonesian itself sometimes.

With Mba Reni

With Ted Lyng

Turkey Time!!

With Tanti and US Flag

Thank you US Embassy.

Upcoming Disasters

These days, there lots of disasters came by to this world, specifically to my country Indonesia. Sad of course. In less than 2 days, 2 disasters came in a row. 7.2 SR earthquake follow by Tsuname happened in October 26th, and not too long after that, Merapi volcano has erupted. thousands of people died.

Nature is showing no mercy for the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia this week. Coming to grips with the eruption of its most volatile volcano, Indonesia must now contend with an earthquake and tsunami that has battered its isolated Mentawai Islands region. At least 311 people have been killed in the magnitude-7.7 earthquake according to the head of West Sumatra's disaster management agency Wednesday. Another 410 people are still missing.

After all that happen, do we learn something? or just let it go and pray for the victims?

Those disasters came as a result of what we have done. Cutting trees and ignoring what we're not supposed to ignore. Don't we realize it leads toward something? the end of the earth. The mother earth is tired. Tired to hold on everything. Flood in Wasior has killed hundreds people. Why is that happen? That's because of cutting trees everywhere so the soil couldn't hold the water. But people just don't care. They give the empathy, but keep cutting the trees.
Maybe some of us think, ok it's not me that died, but don't they realize that the die comes after them?

My friends, my family, and people who i don't know. If you do care, if you do wanna save the earth, or if you do wanna save yourself, please, stop cutting trees. All the disasters that happen are only a small part of what we might heading forward. We're alive now but it can't guarantee that we're gonna alive forever. At least please save other people and our children.

Stop cutting trees, stop wasting water, stop wasting energy by turning off your electricity when you don't really use them (especially air conditioner), and use public transportation instead of driving your own car by yourself. Small things, but big deal to save the ear

One tree for one live

What makes us different

What makes different? education? economical life? ethnic? face? parents?Many people asked about my life. They thought that my parents earn a good money so i can be like this. But basically, people know nothing.

i grew up in a normal family, not rich, just grateful of what we have. When i was in elementary kids, my parents were a small medicine seller. We dont have much. My mom was a lecturer but she stopped and start to be a merchant, like a Minang suppose to be.lol. I went to regular school near by my house. Until 6th grade, i wanted to have a Smart Book (buku pintar). But i don't have money to buy it, nor my parents. Well they have money but they just have to reconsider everything in order to buy something cause there might be something else more important than a that book to buy. All my friends have the book, i don't. But i don't wanna ask my parents either. Cause i know what their condition were like. So i just borrowed my friend's book and start reading it.Then it continued till i my junior high. Things are getting better with our economy. My parents started to have the 2nd (small) store in different place. For a merchant, it's good cause you'll have a second 'money' from other place. But for merchant, the money is not like when you work to a company. But it's like when you're having a business. You gotta pay for check, credits, and other stuff that you have to sell back at the end. So it's basically a 'circle' money. You still have to manage everything so you wont get broke.

On junior high, i was a kinda nerd girl who didn't have a lot friends. To be honest, i sometimes got jealous with them. They could go shopping, went to the mall, watched movies whenever they like. I was actually tried to be fitted in by been someone else, which at the end, it didn't work. I started to be fake. Pretend that i had money and could buy anything. It's a shame, i know. But it was me, a 13 years old girl who tried to fit in girls click.Going to high school, it was pretty good. i started to realize that there's no use of being someone else that we don't wanted to. i started to being just myself. i wasn't smart. My family economy was settled. we're not rich, but we had enough. Being with my family makes me realize that i have to understand about the situation. Be grateful of what i have and stop pretending to be anything. it teaches me, if i wanna get something, then i have to try to get it with my own efforts. i knew my parents worked really hard to make my brother and i feel enough. For me, i don't like to ask money for my parents. I would worked if i could, but i was thinking, what can i do in this 15 years old age?

Then there was a selection to be an exchange student. Then Alhamdulillah i got the scholarship. Then my life changed after that. I got a full scholarship to go to USA. I paid nothing. Even the scholarship paid for Visa, plane tickets, and the government even gave me money every month. But of course i had job there, to tell Americans what Indonesia is and what Islam is. I did many presentations in every school in USA and they even sent me to Disney World, Florida to be in a world conference :) For a year, i didn't ask my parents to send me some money. i worked as a cleaning service in there so i could buy my own laptop without asking my parents to buy me one. All i want is just buy things with my own money, which i finally did. I bought my own laptop, my own clothes, shoes, dresses, and alhamdulillah i could sent my families some stuff. but of course my lovely host parents helped me to do that. That was my biggest happiness, to make my parents happy and proud :')

When i got back to Indonesia, everything's changed. My life changed. i became more mature and i think that i could make change. I worked as a English private teacher when i was in 3rd grade Senior High School. And Alhamdulillah i got a full scholarship again in University when i am in now and working as a course consultant in English First Pejaten.
What i want to tell you is not a story about my life. But i want to tell you that we can do everything that we wanna do. I went to a Pesantren in Pondok Cabe for doing some community service. I talked with the kids in there and they said,

"Kak, you're so lucky for being you. Look at us, we're poor, we cant do much things like you did. We don't have that much money to do that"

Then i said, "Dek, don't try to find any kind of excuses. The excuses that you just said were created because you think so. I have a friend, his mother is a tukang pecel keliling which just earned a small amount of money, it's not enough to feed him and his sisters and brothers. Because of his efforts and his brain, he got scholarship to USA with me and now he became the smartest student in his college and got another scholarship for that"

Mingling with Pesantren kids :')

YES Students doing community services in Pesantren

After Iftar with US Embassy and unprivileged children.

Appreciation after Ramadan Outreach 2010

Better World for Better Future Conference, Disney World, FL

IYAA Indonesia Conference, Jogjakarta, Indonesia



Presentation about Islam in Southern Columbia Area High School, PA, USA

Sometimes i think that people poor because they just don't have money to pay education. But in fact, it's not true. Yes we do need some money to go to school in order to have a high education. But if the person do have a willingness to be in the school and to be success, it will all come towards the goal. There are so many people in our country becoming poor because they think so. they think they can't do much because of the excuses that they create by themselves. Those excuses are just going to create boundaries in life. It will stop you from getting your dreams.
Any people with any kind of economy, ethnics, and education will get their dream if they stop to make excuses in life. I believe there's nothing we can't do (except God's will).
Pray and effort will do some much in this life.

Stop whining, stop making excuses, start working and do the best we can do while we can. If we combine those things, it will create a huge thing that coming up next in our life. We'll see.

I start on nothing, running everything. If i can, i'm sure you can too :)

Memory of 9/11

September 11th, 2001. Everybody remember that day. The day that terrorists hijacked two plains and hit it to the two gigantic building in Washington DC.Yes, people were shocked by that disaster. Many people were killed. Christians, Moslems, Jewish, any type of people that were on that building, killed.

Today, it's been nine years since the tragedy happened. The place is now called Ground Zero.
Many Americans think that the Moslem are the terrorists. Moslem did that. That thought reminds me of my exchange year on 2007-2008. When i was trying to do some presentations about Indonesia and Islam. I remember there was a friend who asked me, "Ghina, you are a moslem, are you a terrorist??" That was the strangest question i've ever heard in my life, besides people were asking why i knew Eminem, Rihanna, and Hollywood actors, simply because they thought that Indonesian don't watch TV and MTV (-. -")a. The question about terrorist wasn't like a joking question. It was a serious question. Here are the conversation..

Me: I can't eat pork and Ham because i am Moslem.
D : What?! You are a Moslem??
Me: Yea.. Why?
D : OMG, so are you a terrorist?
Me: ...
D : Isn't your religion taught you to kill people and hit people?
Me: D, Logically, If i am a terrorist, you must be dead by now. But you're alive! So you still think that i am a terrorist afterwards?
D : Umm, no.. But That's what i heard and what i see. Moslems do that..
Me: Here's the thing. I know it's not easy to believe. But i just want you to know
and i hope you will understand and let you friends know this. Islam itself
literally means "Peace". There is no religion in this world teach their people to
kill the others. In my life, i've never been taught by anyone or anything to kill
people. So do you. In the terrorist-bombing-things, those people are just using
Moslems name as a thing to be blamed. If we remember the tragedy in Georgia
(if i'm not mistaken), was done by Christians. KKK's are Catholics/Christians.
Is it fair if we also say that those people are taught by their religion to kill other
people?

Yea. that was basically my conversation with my friend. Stereotype. That's the big word. Maybe some of us don't realize when we say, "Americans are fat." or "Padang itu pelit". Small things aren't they? But it becomes big thing when we say about big thing as in my conversation above.

My question will be, Why people can think that Moslem are terrorists? the reason is simple. Because we show them that we are. Yeah, some of you will screw around, but it's true.. Let's see what 'a community' in our country does. Radical demonstration, destroying churches, hitting people, yes, that's what they (we) showed them.

I never blame American for hating Moslem. i don't blame Moslem either. But it simply because the Americans don't know what Islam is. They just know bad things that they see. Same with us. We only see bad things that come up in front of TV without buffer it first right? Now, why don't we just show them that Islam is full of peace? Islam is the best thing in the world. Show them what we've been taught since we were kid. Show them that we, as Moslem never kill people without any reason. Show them!

Somehow i think Americans are more open-minded than some Indonesians. But it simply because some of Indonesians are just don't know either. If i can do one thing for this world, i would switch Americans to live in Indonesia and Indonesians live in America for just a month. And we'll see how it turns. I wanna see that 'radical community' in Indonesia to live in America as a Moslem major and see how it ends. I wish i could tell them how it feels to a minority as a Moslem in America. I wish i could show them how hard it is to live on people's thought about terrorist. I wish.

The Story of Parkit

Somebody just sent me a message through my facebook. i know that person. i really know him.
He sent me these words and a story about "parkit" and sangkarnya. I know, he knows who's the parkit and sangkarnya.

Sang sangkar dulu memiliki seekor burung parkit di dalamnya.
Namun sekarang sang sangkar kebingungan mencari kemana burung parkit yg dahulu ada di dalamnya.
dia pikir burung parkit tersebut telah kabur mencari sangkar lain yg lebih megah daripada sangkar ini.
Sang sangkar sedih dan memutuskan untuk terus menanti sang parkit sampai dia kembali.
Walaupun pada akhirnya jika sang parkit tidak akan kembali lagi, sang sangkar tetap akan menunggu dan menunggu hingga waktu sendiri yang akan mengikis tempatnya.

Begitulah pengakuan sang sangkar.
Namun ia sebenarnya tidak sadar.. mengapa parkit kesayangannya tiba-tiba menghilang.
Ia tidak tahu, bahwa sebenarnya burung parkit yang paling dicintainya itu telah mati, dibunuh oleh dirinya sendiri.

Sang parkit tidak pernah meninggalkan sangkar yang teramat dicintainya itu.
Walaupun sang sangkar terus menghimpitnya sedemikian hebatnya.. namun tak sedikitpun ada niat dari sang parkit untuk meninggalkan sang sangkar.. apalagi untuk mencari sangkar baru yang lebih megah..
"aku sudah teramat mencintai sangkar ini. walaupun nafasku sudah sesak, aku tidak akan meninggalkannya", pikirnya.
Namun sang sangkar bahkan tidak pernah menggubris dan memperdulikan apa yang diutarakan sang parkit.
Ia terlalu sibuk mengatur peraturan untuk sang parkit.
Sang parkit tidak memperdulikan suara hatinya sendiri. dia tetap akan menaati peraturan tersebut.

Sudah berulang kali sang sangkar bahkan pernah mengusir paksa sang parkit.
Sehelai kain yang tadinya diberikan untuk melindungi sang parkit dari kedinginan pun dimintanya dengan paksa.
"Kau sudah tidak pantas lagi memakainya!", sumpah sang sangkar.
Sang parkit dengan menangis memohon kepada sang sangkar agar tidak mengusirnya. Sudah bertahun-tahun aku di dalam sangkar mu, pintanya.
Namun sang sangkar tidak mendengar melainkan terus menghimpit sang parkit yang tadinya sudah sakit,
Hingga akhirnya meninggal di dalam sangkar yang paling dicintainya itu..

Sangkar pun masih tidak sadar bahwa sang parkit terus telah mati.
Dia baru sadar setelah tubuh sang parkit yang telah kurus lunglai dibawa angin entah kemana.
Hanya meninggalkan sehelai bulu putih bekas pesakitannya.

Penyesalan akhirnya menimpa sang sangkar.
Namun ia tetap tidak sadar, bahwa ia lah yang telah membunuh sang parkit..
Sang parkit sekarang hanya bisa melihat dari balik awan..
Menangisi penyesalan yang dirasakan sang sangkar..
yang secara tak langsung suka menyakiti sang parkit dengan melihat sangkar yang amat dicintainya dahulu, meratapi kepergian sang parkit, tanpa tau kesalahannya..

That wasn't the message that he gave me. at the beginning it was. But i wrote the rest of it.