Life ain't That Easy, Dude!

What a wonderful life we have! The warmth of sunshine, petrichor of the rain, and the chirping sound of little birds are simply breathtaking. Nevertheless, we still need to be vigilant in everything we do. This beautiful life can be very hostile at some times. It camouflages a number of bottomless cliffs that can trap us anytime. 


You must be wondering about the ‘easy life’ some people have. Scholars, ‘genius’ students, successful businessmen, and popular celebrities, it seems that their lives are far from obstacles and misery. Oh, come on. Open your eyes! There is no such thing as an easy life.

May be, the first figure that cross your mind is celebrity. Most of us must know Colbie Caillat. She is a pretty famous singer now. Whereas back then in the earlier years, she was struggling to pursue this dream. She auditioned for American Idol but was rejected at the pre-audition stage, and hence didn’t get the opportunity to sing for the judges. The second time she auditioned for the show, she was rejected once again. Similar thing happened to Taylor Swift, her demo tape was rejected by a number of recording labels in Nashville. But in the end, in spite of all those bitterness, both Colbie Caillat and Taylor Swift were able to pursue their dream.

Such example can be obtained from business sector as well. I think, in this case, Bob Sadino is a perfect model. He is an eminent Indonesian businessman. Don’t you just see his wealth now; in former times, he had to go through the tough road. He started his tough journey as a car rental owner and chauffeur. Later on, a car accident made his car severely damaged. At that time, he did not have the money to repair it. So, he became a low-waged-mason. He was depressed because of his condition at that time. Until one fateful day, one of his friends suggested him to breed chickens. He and his wife sold the egg produced by the chickens door to door. In a few years, they got some regular consumers. As the time goes by, he succeeded to open a supermarket named Kem Chicks. Now, his business has developed so much and it is all the result of his hard work for years. And do not forget our beloved Steve Jobs. He is well known for his successful company history. In spite of that, he had to go through some failures and obstacles in life.

 Now, let’s talk about something very close to my life. I am a student, so the thing that I know very well is the life of a student. Well, you and I know that there must be one or two ‘genius’ students in our respective classes. It seems like they don’t have to give so much effort to obtain a superb score. No, if you think about it that way, you are absolutely wrong. Don’t think that their intelligence comes from heaven, they work hard for it, it didn’t come instantly. As a matter of fact, there are some of my friends are willing to stay at home and study almost all the time.

What about scholars? Many people think that getting a scholarship is an impressive thing, and it is something very rare. It seems like scholars got everything, good education, new experience, free food, etc. Well, it is not as beautiful as you think. Being a scholar means that you have to let go some precious things in your life: old friends, lovely memories that were made with them, and sometimes family. It is true that you will get a lot of interesting new things by getting this kind of scholarship, but don’t you think there are a lot of things to let go?

Life ain’t that easy, is it? It is a struggle and we need to conquer it and survive. John Woodman said, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then figure out how to sell it for $5.00 a glass.” Lemons here means obstacle. So, when life gives us obstacles, don’t wallow in sorrow. Do something positive and make those obstacles be something ‘sweeter’. Indeed, it is easy to say but hard to do. Even so, we can at least give it a shot.

The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

-Pierre de Courbertin-