Quote #51

"You know that the severity of a situation is insanely alarming when inanity is not seen as inanity anymore, but rather perceived as normal." - Klinsman Hinjaya

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Money

About a week ago I was sitting on the front seat of my eldest brother's car. I was with him, who was beside me, driving through Jakarta, a city with a slew of problems but a host of addictive foods. En route to some place that I already forget, we talked about a topic that I'm sure has always been in the 'heart' of anyone, anytime, anywhere—since the system was adopted worldwide.

We discussed our parents, which were (and are) sick. We had (and have) to spend sums of money coming from our bread and butter. To be honest, it had been as if I was an obese sauropod when I went to the cashier in a hospital in Sunter, North Jakarta, and swipe my bank card to pay for my father's treatment. It had been quite difficult for me to visit my bank website, do some Internet banking, and let those rupiahs 'fly' from my bank account to pay for my mother's. But the fruit that came from that not very long conversation kind of 'widened my eyes'.

Money. This five-letter word is enough to be the source of most problems in the world. I'm not a statistics expert but I believe there are a great number of spouses that have gotten divorced and/or had affairs because of money, not to mention high crime rates brought about by this static thing. Have you read a newspaper today? If yes, I'm pretty sure that at least some of the bad news articles you've read have money as the culprit.

But the problem is not money itself. As the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10, it is our desire that is to blame. In Matthew 6:33, God 'slaps' us so that we don't focus on other things; we have to free ourselves from angst and lead our lives to only one thing: His reign.

Here are some points to end this article:

• Be wise with your money since God lends it to you for His glory. Remember: You are chosen. If it is for good, why don't you let it go?
• Destroy your feeling of insecurity. Rely on God; He is the True Protector.
• People who are winners are those who know that money is only a medium and strive to put as much effort as they can for the good of the world.

Credit: David Hinjaya

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Discounts

Imagine you are in a mall. You go to a department store. You see many kinds of things. Some of them are interesting but the others not. But, what is "really interesting"  is that there are eye-catching signs. "25%", "30% discount", "up to 80% off", and many others; those are what the signs show.

Discounts are a way to attract people to buy products or services. You can save some money and spend it on anything else. (That's what I know. Please forgive me, I'm not marketeer.)

Item: Watch
Normal Price: $50.50
Discount: 30%
Price After Discount: $35.35

Yeah, cool! You can save $15.15. You can buy two copies of Raptor Red, one for you and one for your mischievous brother. Is it good? Yes, it is. Is it always good? The abrupt answer is NO.

Why? The answer is related to my article Need and Greed. The mistake that people sometimes (or often?) make is that they are tempted to buy discounted things because there are discounts. If you think about it, it makes no sense. The fact that there are discounts is not a good reason why you buy things. We buy things
because we think those will be useful for us, because we will use them for our good, because they will affect our lives well, because they will bring about good effects to us.

If you buy a thing with an original price of $10 at a reduced price of $8 without the right reason, actually you do not save $2; you throw away $8 instead.

Laura: "Brian, look at the T-shirt!"
Brian: "Oh, what's wrong with it?"
Laura: "It's so cheap! There's a 75% discount! It's just $10 now! Get it!"
Brian: "Oh. Thanks, Laura, but I have plenty of clothes at home. :) Laura, you look thirsty. Why not drink an orange juice? I'll treat you. :)"
Laura: "Ah.. Sure.. Thanks, Brian. :)" Continue reading

Me, Me, and Me!

I had some experience some time ago and it triggered me to share it here. I can't remember the details of the experience, but the point is I focused on myself and didn't pay attention to anyone around me. In other words, I regarded myself as the "king of the universe". What's the result? Unhappiness, stress, dissatisfaction.

Ego. Everyone has it. Don't deny that.

So, is it bad to have an ego? The simple answer is "no".

Ego is important. If you didn't have an ego, you would probably die soon because you wouldn't eat and would give all of your food to other people instead. You would be stressful too because you would spend your spare time to work and work and, therefore, drain yourself.

However, if you have an enormous ego, you must be careful. If now you are not contented, if you are feeling there is something missing, if you think you have everything but it is not "enough", perhaps you ego is beyond the limit.

Then, what should you do? You could follow the steps below as a start:
1. Look at someone around you.
2. Put yourself in their shoes.
3. Think about something that you can do for them to improve their life quality.
4. Do it.

Note: If you don't know what you can do for them, give your best smile, which you certainly can do, to them.

Caring is a good medicine. No side effects. Believe me.

To end this article, here is an utterance from my friend: "If you care for other people, you don't need to care for yourself." Agree? Continue reading

Little Love

Why do you often—or always?—buy things only for yourself? Because you have little love.

Why are you so furious that someone pokes you by accident on a bus? Because you have little love.

Why do you eat anything you want and not take care of your body? Because you have little love.

Why do you cheat when doing tests and say that it is okay because you are still a student? Because you have little love.

Why do you arrive late at the office and do your job frivolously? Because you have little love.

Why do you say bad things about your boss or your colleagues? Because you have little love.

Why do you spend five hours playing DotA but become angry when your mother interrupts and asks you to buy something for her? Because you have little love.

Why do you flirt with another girl while your girlfriend is in the restroom of a mall? Because you have little love.

Why are you so excited about going to Plaza Indonesia to buy branded bags and shoes but mad at your boyfriend when he says he can't take you home? Because you have little love.

Why do you cheat on your wife, who you married several years ago and who thought you were her Mr. Right—and thinks you are? Because you have little love.

Why do you frown when you see your husband coming home but smile when you watch Lee Min-ho acting in a Korean drama? Because you have little love.

Why did you abort your baby and say that it was your choice? Because you have little love.

Why do you prefer hanging out all day with your friends to accompanying and talking with your lonely grandparents for a short period of time? Because you have little love.

Why do you bully your juniors and say that it is a way to educate them? Because you have little love.

Why do you run a red light and not feel guilty? Because you have little love.

Why do you prefer to spend your money on five bottles of beer rather than using it to buy forty bottles of water for the poor? Because you have little love.

Why do you not say sorry if you hurt your friend's heart but slap your brother for messing up your room? Because you have little love.

Why do you not say thanks when you are helped out but grumble when your friend doesn't offer cookies to you? Because you have little love.

Why is it easy to read a comic book in half an hour but so hard to read a few Bible pericopes in an hour? Because you have little love.

Why is it very hard to go to church and spend one hour praying but so easy to go to the disco and spend seven hours dancing? Because you have little love.

Why do you not pray every day although each day is given free by God? Because you have little love.

Why do you not want to do good things and become a better person after reading this article? Because you have little love. Continue reading

Happiness

I don't know whether I am a creative person or not. I cannot think of a better title than this.

Okay. I am writing this because I was inspired by an event that I experienced just now. One of my university friends introduced me to a person who gave me a presentation about his multi-level marketing (MLM) company.

The main point that I got from it is that you can get much money from if you join the company. Hundreds of thousands dollars probably. I'm not quite sure, but certainly it is "a lot".

Then came two other friends of his who have also joined the company. Just say they are A (not Apatosaurus!) and B (not Brontosaurus of course!). A's motivation of doing that business is he wants to buy (an) expensive car(s), and, probably, other prestigious things. And, B's motivation is simple. He wants to make his parents happy by accompanying them traveling to the U.S.A.

This leads me to a question: Will I be happy only if I have a super car? Will I be happy only if I have an excursion with my parents in other countries? (Oops, sorry, two questions :p)

And my answer to both the questions is: No.

I am happy in front of my laptop right now. I am happy writing this article. I don't feel I lack anything. It doesn't matter to me to have only an ordinary car or to go with my parents to Bandung. Note: Bandung is the capital city of West Java. It is quite near to Jakarta.

Anyway, that's my answer. It's possible that you have a different answer than mine, and that's fine.

From my perspective, happiness is defined by you yourself. You cannot compare one's happiness to others' happiness. You cannot force someone to do something and say, "You will be happy after you do this."

I am infatuated by my dinosaur book collection, though you might put them in the corner of your room and abandon them, or burn them down because you think they only take up a lot of space in your room. You may love your K-Pop CDs and DVDs, while I will sell them and use the money to buy Jay Chou's concert CDs or DVDs (really, I haven't got them!). You might want to buy an original Lionel Messi jersey or watch a movie every weekend but I prefer to go on a trip to a city or go camping. I'd rather blog or browse on the Internet for one hour than spend an hour playing Left 4 Dead, DotA or Counter Strike. And many more...

Please notice that I am not saying that the business is deceitful. Maybe it works, maybe not. I don't know. But, for sure, happiness is something that you determine, not others. You measure it, not others. What do you think? Continue reading

Positioning

If you think this article is about soccer, you've got it wrong. :)

We are us. We have our own position. Maybe you are a father, a wife, a neighbor, a boss, or a king. Probably you are in a queue, in a shelter, on a train, at a party, or at your home. Too many examples. And, now, you are in a position (maybe more than one) too, right? :)

Various conditions make us different than other people.

Positioning: If I were him/her, what would I feel?

Before we do something, it is great to reflect on the sentence above.

→ Before we bully our friends
→ Before we speak harshly to our parents
→ Before we jeer our brothers and/or sisters
→ Before we watch porn movies
→ Before we hit our wife
→ Before we insult our husband
→ Before we sleep together with someone who is not our spouse
→ Before we meet our boyfriend or girlfriend late
→ Before we laugh at the disabled
→ Before we lie to our customers
→ Before we steal others' time
→ ... (your turn :))

not always bad:

→ Before we smile to our grandparents
→ Before we caress the sick
→ Before we give thanks to our maids
→ Before we say sorry to God or our kids
→ ... (I am tired of typing. Please. . . ;))

Imagine slowly, deeply. . . "Make" yourself him or her. . . Feel . . . Take his or her position. . . .



You are HIM! You are HER!

What do you feel? (listen carefully and thoroughly to your heart)

Grief? Bliss? Sadness? Joy?

Our life is full of acts and we contribute to them! (never forget this) The choice is in our hands and always will be. :) (I am not paid by Facebook for this LOL)

"Take your position, Messi!" Tito Vilanova shouted. (now I am speaking about soccer XD) Continue reading

Need or Greed?

Hm. . . I think, by reading the title, you know what I mean. :) But it's okay. I wanna share my experience and I wish you want to pay attention to it, which I hope inspires you. :)

Several days ago I visited Kaskus (an Indonesian forum) to look for Jay Chou's albums. I wanna collect all of his albums (I only have one. What is that? Click here. :)). Add info: Praise God, I've got my first job! ^__^

After surfing for some time, I got what I wanted. There were some tantalizing albums displayed on a thread; however, the seller said that what was available is only the 10th album, The Era, I decided to buy that "yummy" album, which was worth 50.000 rupiahs. (rupiah = Indonesian currency)

I couldn't make a transaction by COD (cash on delivery)—that was what I wanted, but he/she didn't want to—, so I had to pay the fee for shipping. The shipping cost for 4-7 days is 4.000 rupiahs, while the one for 1-3 days is 6000 rupiahs. What did I choose?

The point is: I didn't need to listen to the album within 1-3 days, although I was very eager to listen to the cool songs! So, I chose the first option. I saved 2.000 rupiahs (not too much, about US$0.2,  but WORTH). 2.000 rupiahs is 2.000 rupiahs, right? :)

There are many choices in our life, and every choice has its own consequence. Don't waste what you shouldn't waste by being greedy. See your needs. See how happy it is to act properly. :)

• Book
• CD/DVD
• Blackberry
• iPad
• iPhone
• Laptop
• Starbucks products
• ... (you may fill in this blank by yourself)

Buy?

Need or greed? ;) Continue reading