Sunday, August 16, 2015

I Am Second

Aku rasa, aku sudah mulai gila.

Semenjak mulai bekerja di perusahaan ini, Life Talk Asia, aku hampir ga bisa berhenti berpikir serius mengenai this thing called LIFE. Setiap detik, setiap menit, sekelibat pertanyaan berat selalu melintas di pikiranku seperti:

"Gimana caranya aku bisa mengubah hidup mentee?"
"Gimana caranya untuk mengubah mindset negatif orang tua terhadap anaknya?"
"Gimana caranya aku bisa memulihkan hubungan keluarga mereka?
"Apa yang harus aku lakukan untuk bisa lebih peka sama suara Tuhan?"
"Apa yang aku lakukan untuk menjadi kesaksian hidup bagi mentee-ku dan gak cuma omdo?"
"Perkataan apa yang bisa membantu aku supaya bisa membangun mentee-ku?"
"Apa yang harus aku lakukan untuk membangun keluargaku ke level yang lebih tinggi?"
"Apa yang harus aku lakukan untuk dapat membawa keluargaku pada kemenangan dan menuai banyak success story?"
"Apa yang harus aku lakukan hari ini yang bisa memberkati orang yang melihatku?"


Ya, semenjak aku jadi mentor di tempat ini, hidupku tidak pernah sama lagi.
Senang? Anehnya ya. Serius. Di sini aku dituntut untuk bisa membimbing anak-anak remaja untuk bukan hanya berubah menjadi lebih baik, tetapi berubah dan menjadi inspirasi. Di sini aku dituntut untuk mengajar mereka, membimbing mereka, memberikan diri -waktu, tenaga- bagi mereka.

Ya, mungkin aku sudah gila.

Aku teringat aku yang dulu. Aku tidak suka anak kecil, menurutku anak kecil hanya menyusahkan saja. Aku ga pernah pengen punya adek, mungkin karena aku anak bungsu ya jadi udah enak aja rasanya hahaha. Dan dari semua pekerjaan yang aku tahu, aku paling gak mau jadi guru. Why? Males, apalagi karena aku sadar tanggung jawab moral guru itu tinggi, gak cuma sekedar buat murid-muridnya ngerti, tapi harus ngurusin mereka secara pribadi juga. Dan aku paling gak mau jadi pembicara. WHY? Karena aku merasa gak ada bakat aja di situ. Aku gak suka berada di depan umum, berbicara kepada orang-orang, dan mendapatkan perhatian dari orang-orang. Aku gak suka di judge. Aku mau duduk aja. Aku mau jadi background aja.

Tapi kenyataannya?

Sejak hari itu, di bulan-bulan akhir tahun 2014, aku mulai mempertanyakan situasiku. Dari awal kuliah aku sudah memiliki rencana yang sederhana dan pasti, yaitu mengambil S2 Psikologi agar mendapatkan gelar, menikah dengan pacarku, melayani di gereja sebagai singer dan bekerja sebagai Konselor. Dari dulu aku sudah memantapkan diri untuk mengambil rencana ini dan aku sadar gampang sekali untuk mengambil step ini. Karena uang utk kuliah juga sudah ada, aku memiliki passion di Psikologi jadi menjalankannya pun pasti tidak akan sesusah itu, aku dan Gby memang sudah lama mempertimbangkan untuk membangun keluarga bersama, jadi sebenarnya semua tinggal tancap gas aja. Aku bisa saja bermain aman dan di saat yang sama juga melakukan pekerjaan yang baik.
Hidupku sempurna.

Sampai akhirnya suatu hari aku bernostalgia, dan mengingat betapa Tuhan udah baik banget sama aku. Aku punya banyak masalah di masa muda ku tapi penyertaan dan pemeliharaan Tuhan selalu nyata di hidupku. Aku bersyukur bisa hidup di keluarga yang utuh, dan aku tidak pernah berkekurangan tetapi juga ditanamkan nilai-nilai yang baik agar rendah hati. Di dalam masa mudaku, aku juga seringkali menyakiti dan disakiti oleh orang lain, tapi Tuhan banyak mengajar aku melalui masalah-masalah tersebut. Aku ga pernah merasa benar-benar terjatuh. Tuhan selalu mengangkatku.

Saat itulah, satu pertanyaan muncul di pikiranku, 

"Tapi apa yang sudah aku lakukan buat menunjukkan rasa syukurku kepada Tuhan? Isn't it time for me to give back?"

Aku melihat kembali rencana-rencanaku. Rencana yang sudah tertata rapi. Rencana yang sudah pasti itu. Rencana yang baik. Tapi aman. Rencana yang berpusat kepada diri sendiri, kenyamanan pribadi. Sementara aku tahu yang Tuhan mau, aku tahu Tuhan menginginkan lebih. Tuhan ingin sesuatu yang melibatkan lebih banyak pengorbanan, rencana yang self-less. Aku tidak ingin memberikan Tuhan sesuatu yang aku tahu pasti gampang untuk kuraih, aku ingin memberikan lebih. I want to show Him my love by giving Him something worthful.

Saat itulah, aku memutuskan untuk memberikan diri untuk pelayanan. Aku mencoret semua rencanaku yang pernah kutata. Aku menunda kuliahku dan mengambil tekad untuk melayani. Although aku gak tahu maksud pelayanannya seperti apa, aku cuma berharap Tuhan membukakan jalan yang tepat buatku. And He did!

Karena setelah itu aku dipertemukan pada Life Talk Asia, dan sejak saat itu hari-hari kulalui dengan melayani anak-anak muda, membawa mereka kepada jalan kebenaran.

Hidupku tidak pernah sama lagi.

Aku yang dulu, paling malas sama yang namanya komunitas, sekarang aku memiliki komunitas rohani di tempat kerjaku, setiap  minggu kami akan berkumpul dan mengadakan fellowship untuk memulai tiap minggu. Aku yang dulu penuh rasa takut ketika berbicara di depan umum, sekarang berani untuk maju dan mengajar. Aku yang dulu tidak ingin memiliki adik bahkan satu saja, sekarang memiliki banyak sekali adik-adik yang kukenal secara mendalam. Aku yang selalu lebih prefer untuk diajak berbicara duluan, sekarang menjadi pribadi yang lebih ramah, hangat kepada orang-orang yang bahkan baru saja aku kenal.

Hidupku benar-benar berubah. Dan jujur aku tidak menyangka. Aku kira dalam pelayanan ini hanya akan ada banyak sekali rasa sakit dan yang harus aku lakukan adalah endure semua rasa sakit. Dan memang banyak sekali ups and downs yang kualami di tempat ini. Tapi aku tidak menyangka aku pun mendapat banyak sekali imbas yang baik dari melayani. Padahal awalnya aku berpikir, sudah saatnya aku memberi, tetapi kenyataannya Tuhan malah memberikan lebih banyak lagi dalam hidupku. Sungguh Tuhan sangat baik!

Terkadang saat aku merasa lelah dengan pekerjaanku, aku mulai memvisualisasikan diri berada di sebuah kantor seperti tempat aku magang dulu. Ingin rasanya aku menjalankan pekerjaanku dengan langkah yang lebih santai: pulang tepat waktu, mengerjakan pekerjaan yang sama setiap hari dan sudah pasti mencapai deadline, melakukan rutinitas, kalau udah siap kerja bisa nganggur-nganggur sampe jam pulang. Tapi dalam hati aku sadar, aku gak akan pernah bisa sebahagia ini kalau aku mengambil kerja yang seperti itu. Aku tidak bisa merasa seberharga ini jika aku memilih untuk berjalan di jalur yang aman. 



Aku bahagia.
Aku bersyukur.
Aku beryukur Tuhan tidak pernah membiarkan aku berada di zona nyamanku terlalu lama.
He would never let me settle for an "OK".


Cause at the end of the day, when I would always say to myself, "I lived a good life."
He would whisper to me softly, "I want you to have better."

Friday, September 12, 2014

TMGS3 PREMIUM ENGLISH PATCH IS OUT--

...bersamaan dengan waktu gue mulai masuk kerja.

*Sigh*

4 tahun lalu, gue nulis di blog ini soal tahun-tahun pertama gue kuliah. Soal temen-temen Psikologi, dan gimana kehidupan gue di UPH (ya ga spesifik amat sih). Sekarang... Gue udah kerja aja. Walopun ya belum wisuda sih, masih nunggu tanggal. Memang ini Universitas selalu mengebelakangkan anak-anak Psikologi, fakultas lain udah pada yudisium dan udah diumumin kapan jadwal wisuda, kami masih dibiarkan mengambang.

Mengambang-ngambang.

Ngambang.

Ambang.

Maaf ya lagi random. Ini sebenarnya juga lagi di tempat kerja sih, cuma kebetulan semua tugas udah gue kerjain dengan cekatan dan gue sangat butuh buat produktif, jadinya ya nulis-nulis aja deh di blog ini. Just to let you guys know, I'M STILL ALIVE! Yay!

Oh did I mention, English patch buat Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story Premium udah keluar? Yeah, it's for the PSP version of TMGS3. Surprising huh, I thought they'd release the ones for the NDS first, but meh I don't mind, they look way more lively and attractive in the PSP version (secara gitu lho, 2D live!)


( Oh dearest Arashi, I can understand you at last, no more language barrier between us :') terharu )

Click here if you'd like to get your hands on the patch and to learn more about how to patch the game. It's written in the first paragraph of the blog (THANK YOU DEAR YUMIKO FOR THE WONDERFUL NEWS)

And I've been playing the game nonstop ever since. Gak peduli pulang dari kantor udah ngantuk-ngantuk, tetep aja itu game gue babat abis. Udah ada kali tamat 3 kali sejak ini game di-patch. Now I can finally activate the PVP and 3P mode and ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON!

It's not like I PRETENDED I UNDERSTAND all this time! Pfft, of course I understand just a tiny bit of  JAPANESE. But you know, like, it's more satisfying to play it in a language I'm actually fluent in, DUH!

I'll post more about it later. So ciao people!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

"Dear No One, this is your love song"

It's a lyric from Tori Kelly's "Dear No One" single.

This is possibly the theme song for all you hopeful single people out there. Yes, even to you, guys. Meh, maybe not at as feminine as this song seems to be pointing out. But I DO know a guy friend of mine who fits to this kind of sentimentality and melancholic feel (HAHAHA. I know you're reading this, R).

Just so you agree, lemme post the lyrics for ya kay:



I like being independent
Not so much of an investment
No one to tell me what to do
I like being by myself
Don’t gotta entertain anybody else
No one to answer to

But sometimes, I just want somebody to hold
Someone to give me their jacket when its cold
Got that young love even when we’re old
Yeah sometimes, I want someone to grab my hand
Pick me up, pull me close, be my man
I will love you till the end

So if you’re out there I swear to be good to you
But I’m done lookin’, for my future someone
Cause when the time is right
You’ll be here, but for now
Dear no one, this is your love song

I don’t really like big crowds
I tend to shut people out
I like my space, yeah
But I’d love to have a soul mate
God will give him to me someday
& I know it’ll be worth the wait

So if you’re out there I swear to be good to you
But I’m done lookin’, for my future someone
Cause when the time is right
You’ll be here, but for now
Dear no one, this is your love song

But sometimes, I just want somebody to hold
Someone to give me their jacket when its cold
Got that young love even when we’re old
Yeah sometimes, I want someone to grab my hand
Pick me up, pull me close, be my man
I will love you till the end

So if you’re out there I swear to be good to you
But I’m done lookin’, for my future someone
Cause when the time is right
You’ll be here, but for now
Dear no one, this is your love song


Not to be rude, even I can relate to this song. Though mine would be a little forced on since I'm in a long-distance relationship and- you know, the distance! Sometimes it made us LDRs felt like we're half-single, no? Not that kind of desperate half-single though, it's the Half-single but full-of-trust-and-hopeful-that-we'll-be-reunited-someday kind.

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

To all of you DIE-HARD-NOVEL-LOVERS and bookworms out there, you probably have heard about this book.



I got this from my cousin in Amsterdam- who spent her free purchase points to get me this book- & back then I wasn't into reading anymore, especially NOT Teenage drama. Though this book is not just about that ordinary lovey-dovey drama.


It's about a sixteen-year-old patient named Hazel, who has cancer and was forced to go to Support Group by her parents. But then she eventually fell in love with a boy she met in the Support Group which happens to be an ex-basketball player and amputee, named Augustus Waters. Though due to her illness, she realized that she had to limit being involved in this love, cause sooner or later she might be just another heartache to Augustus. Sounds pretty interesting, no?

Unfortunately though, back then I was travelling and was bringing along Murakami's Norwegian Wood and it got me sick because of its unexpected mature content. The fact that it was so... phenomenal to the Japanese got me deciding that MAYBE I wasn't so much into reading anymore.

(If you're wondering what Norwegian Wood is really about, I'll give you a personal review some other time, just- gimme time to take off those images from my mind first.)

I was giving up on reading and buying new novels since I could only enjoy novels I had already bought like Mitch Albom's, Paulo Coelho's or Meg Cabot's. The "New York's Best Selling" title didn't affect me anymore because of my past trauma by Murakami, but still my cousin insisted me to read this and that I won't regret. She convinced me by saying it only took her one day to finish the book and it got her weeping.

Still, I didn't get the time to pick the book up. So for a while, I left it in the bookshelves on top of my bed.

And then the movie trailer of this book came along. I saw it 2 days ago from TheFineBro's "Teen React" and they were all pretty excited about it:

"*GASP!!*  LE BOOK!!"

It's common to see teenage girls getting all giggly,"aaaww" and teary-eyed over the book/trailer since girls are suppose to be more sentimental (HAH! STEREOTYPE-ER!), but even the boys said they were reading the book! So I got curious and finally take a peek on.

And here is the impression I had from reading this book:

( + )
To my surprise, for these last 2 days eventhough I'm busy with my thesis, I couldn't stop reading it once I started. I thought it would be one of those cheesy teenybopper novel, but no, it was even more than that. It has life lessons and deeper emotional understanding that not only teenager, but also adults can adapt. Especially understanding towards people with cancer and what people around them went through. There is this honesty and humanity that Green portrayed in his characters. His narrative, his description, were really SMART. I love how he showed his broad and deeper knowledge, humor and empathy in this whole book. It's easy to see that he really did gave this book a serious thought.

I mean, he even put a thought to titled the book based on one of Shakespeare's famous quote from his play Julius Caesar.

( - )
Though I have to admit some of the words and language he used aren't commonly used, it's not that typical slang you'd find an ordinary teen would be using (in most chick-flicks, by the way). But the sense of vocab intelligence somehow became one of the attractions the book gave. I mean, usually if a word doesn't make that much sense to me, I'd just leave it laying somewhere and eventually forget its whole existence. Yes, that's how low my endurance is. But this book had this... charisma and easy flow that made me want to try harder and it's still surprisingly easy to immerse in it. It again shows the seriousness Green pour out on this book. 

Conclusion!
Maybe there really is no downside to this book, just minor difficulties.

Hence, to all you readers who love to have deep thoughts about life, people, humor and love, this book is a complete combination! Its honest narrative and distinctive characters will definitely not fail nor waste your time. Me, for example, couldn't remember the last time I enjoyed reading so much (especially because you, Murakami, ruined it with your writings that emphasizes lust-over-love matter). It felt REALLY nice to have read this book to remind me and restore my faith in humanity and good books.

Soooo... Yes! I'm going to promote this book to YOU LUCKY BLOG-READERS by showing off my selfie with my kitty-like eyes staring intently at you from behind le book (with hopes they would somehow mesmerize and hypnotize you.)



I'd love to know your comments about this book, so feel free to write it on the comments section!