Midnight Thought - The Perfect Label

Inspired by the words of Amartya Sen in his book Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, he described himself as an Asian, an Indian citizen, a Bengali with Bangladeshi ancestry, an American or British resident, an economist, a dabbler in philosophy, an author, a Sanskritist, a strong believer in secularism and democracy, a man, a feminist, a heterosexual, a defender of gay and lesbian rights, a Hindu with a nonreligious lifestyle, a non-Brahmin, and a nonbeliever in an afterlife. Sen (73) is a Nobel Prize winner in economics. He is a global man and his works has inspired many people in this world.

There are million people who get trapped in a small corner of their potential life, and live their life without doing something really meaningful even for their personal life. How far can we go with our life? What is the limit? Where is the border line?

When I reach 60 or 70, what would be the perfect labels to describe me? At this point of time, I only have few labels that I know for sure will remain the same until I die: an Asian, an Indonesian citizen, an Indonesian with Batak ancestry, a Jesus follower, a Christian, a man, a heterosexual.

God Alone Gives Wisdom, Knowledge and Happiness

"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God"

人には、食べたり飲んだりし、自分の労若に満足を見いだすよりほかに、何もよいことがない。これもまた、神の御手によることがわかった。実に神から離れて、だれが食べ、だれが楽しむことができようか。なぜなら、神は、みこころにかなう人には、知恵と知識と喜ぶを与え、罪人には、神のみこころにかなう者に渡すために、集め、たくわえる仕事を与えられる。これもまた、むなしく、風を追うようなものだ。

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 (In Bahasa: Pengkotbah)

Once again, through several occasions God reminds me to remember that Money, Power and Knowledge would not give me a meaningful life nor a true victory – it would be a chasing after wind.

Everything I undertake should involve God. All my plans should include Him. For only when God is the reason for my behavior; only when God is the purpose of my victory and only when I do what God wants me to do – my life would be meaningful.

Without His wisdom, all of my best efforts and pursuits can be a snare in life.
Without His wisdom, what would I do with my knowledge and would it lead me and my family to the true happiness?

Only God alone gives us wisdom, knowledge and happiness.

Icon or I con?

I was in Singapore for business when I bought iCon, an unathorized biography about Steve Jobs. I guess it was end of summer 2005. Quite inspiring book for me, well at least to see how the Second Act can be happened (to someone?) in a tough high-tech business life.
In a positive way, I admire this smart guy as an icon, though history also showed his "I con" has brought him down from the empire of Apple.
Well, anyway I quoted his speech during The Commencement at Stanford Univ last June 2005. It's such a beautiful thought and knocking poet for me to achieve something better than anyone in this region wak wak wak....
Enjoy it....

CONNECTING THE DOTS
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life
LOVE and LOSS
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
DEATH!
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.