Loving Life

A teacher asked me to make a report for my visit to "Village of Sundanese". I was upset. I didn’t even know what it was. By the name, I could have imagined how boring my task would be.
My car couldn’t reach that isolated place. I needed to walk for 15 minutes. There, I didn’t find any place or any fresh juice to drink. Only a village. If I'm thirsty, I have to take the water out from the wells.
I was guided by one of the elders who took me to the whole village. Mid day, walking for an hour.Finally we saw a gazebo and sat down together while enjoying those tiring scenery. I asked,”Don’t you hate your life here? Don’t you care for the modern world behind all of these traditionalism? How about TV?"
He laughed,”I couldn’t afford the fee for good education to be president or minister. What can I do for this country? I believe that everyone has his own place in this world. I was born poor, live poor. I’m not an educated man, I can't manage the prosperity of many people, or arrest the criminals. I can’t do it, it’s not my part to be in. So?”
He asked me to look around. Hey, where were the boring valley or the tiring wells? I saw only beautiful rice fields everywhere, children playing cheerfully. I heard enjoyable traditional music sung by women, the rhythm of Jalak birds. I smelled a nice air whispering friendly around me.
“They all are my only treasures,” continued the man. “My culture”.
I realized something. We don’t need to be anyone else, or worry when someone else gets the role that we’ve been wishing for. Just love your life. Do the best, make the most of it. Then sit and relax, until one day you’ll find that your life is too short if you spend it only by hoping something which is not yours. If you want to be something for your country, you don’t have to work in government. Even the only thing you have, might be your biggest strength. Last, be loyal to it.
At the end of the day, I still got no fresh juice. But I found something much better, a lesson on how to live.