A Priceless life
Love, education and hard working. Those are the messages from ‘9 summers 10 autumns’ a novel from a true story by Iwan Setyawan that I have just read. Yes, I have finished reading that book just because we have a long weekend holiday. Never I hate a holiday except this holiday, my project can not move, I just stay at home and do nothing. Anyway, reading this book has ‘cured’ me. Even though I have to delay my project, I got something from this book.
I could not agree more with the messages. My father had the same experiences ( more or less) with the author. He was so poor and lived in a small, far and undeveloped village. No one in his village continues their education more than a primary school. Mostly, they only become a farmer, poor farmers, who live in a house with soil floor and small windows. They also live with their animals in the same house. You can imagine how unhealthy living in that house: smell and dark as their future. I might live there as well — living with the cows and goat in the same house, got married and had many children so early — without any dreams and future, if my father did not have a courage to make a change.
But my father is my hero. He did not want to live in that situation. He had a dream to be able to study as high as he could. He walked 12 km every day! Every day my dear friends, to go to high school, just because he knew, no other things could change his life, unless education. And…his dream, effort and hard working has made another stories about a success life through education. He could make his dream, had a quite good career and life, and even more, all his four children could finish their degree from the university. Another stories of the power of education has been proven.
Other insight that I got from this book is about inner satisfaction: duty calling from a heart. After 10 years working in New York and got a shiny career’s as a director in a prestigious company, Iwan, the author of this book, decided to leave all of those luxurious life. Finally, he decided to go back to Indonesia, to share and inspire people. Knowing this part was just like awakening my deep feeling, same feeling with the author, I guest.
I already got my permanent residence to live in the Netherlands as long as I can. Living in the Netherlands does not make my husband and I become rich, but living in this country is very comfortable. We have a good quality of life and education for our children, everything is in order and well organized. However, something is missing in both of our heart. Our duty calling from our heart are not there. Something in our heart always ask us to go back and follow our dream. Something in our heart make us realize that life is not just a matter of money and a comfortable life. Inner satisfaction to do something more from your heart to other people is more priceless than anything that could ever be bought.
