REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By: Asma Nadia
What is your dream? A simple question, but to those who are more mature it has become and increasingly rare question to hear until suddenly you become tongue-tied when asked similar questions.
In the past, when we were small and was often asked, what is your ambition? Easily children express their answers: I want to be president, to be a pilot, a doctor, an astronaut, and others. Now, it’s not easy to find adults who dared to aspire to be presidents, astronauts, and others. Increasing in age, as we are also increasingly loosing the courage to dream– high ideals are often associated with fear.
At least the fact that we found when held a short workshop called Dream Building in the road show movie Love Sparks Traveler Hijab in Korea which will open in theatres this Eid. During the meeting, more than a thousand participants were asked to write their dreams in a small piece of paper that we intentionally share. Most of them will take time to rediscover their dreams; some of them did not write anything and left the paper blank and those who are courage to wrote down their dream. After the completion of the event, the participants were asked to attach the paper to the Dream Wall that has been provided by the committee.
While reading one by one the dreams that was written, it can be seen, that the general people have simple target in life, ideals have been packaged within the frame of the word "realistic".
Common sense of advices that we often hear are:
“Don’t dream so high, if you fall, it will hurt!"
"Do not dream, be realistic!"
Do you agree?
At first glance we seem to minimize dream into realistic actions that seem wise, but the move could also mean surrendering to circumstances. No atmosphere of optimistic spirit is present.
In fact, it should be, do not be afraid to dream, reach out to your dream!
Yes, do not let any other reason to encourage us to simplify our dream.
Surrendering before standing up to fight. Even if age has gone through a lot of numbers. I personally promised myself not to lose those ideals. When ones dream has come true, it is time to start a new dream and so forth. Until the age of 44, there is still a lot of records that I want to accomplish and request in your prayers to God to make your path to accomplish your dream easier. And, it's not because I come from a well-established family that the calculations on my paper will guarantee that my dream come true.
Conversely, when I was a child, I was born from a poor family and lived in a rented house right on the edge of the railroad tracks.
It is often times hard to expect a restful sleep because during certain times, whenever the train passes it raised a small earthquake that shook the bed. But, growing up in family with the conditions below poverty line does not make me afraid to dream.
True, before, my sister and I was shooed away from rental bookstore because we would always come without ever renting any books - with our small bodies we often observe the books from the outside. Understandably, my sister and I like to read, but do not have the money so often time our presence are considered a disturbance to the shop.
At that time, the family has also been denigrated. At least during a visit to someone's home, we were often considered to just want to borrow money. Even when experiencing this pain I've promised not to stop dreaming.
High school graduation, thank God I managed to go to college through an invitation. Although some diseases that I caught since childhood continue to plague, and forces me to quit college.
Even when I failed to graduate, I still did not want to stop dreaming. And, it turns out in the course of life, I found many successful figures although not a graduate. It is understandable because life itself is an open campus for anyone to explore the potential and continue to process themselves.
Benevolent of God.
Alhamdulillah, the little girl who had been evicted from a rental book store is now with volunteers that built more than 200 reading homes so that no more children are expelled simply because they want to read - especially those who can’t even have the money to eat. And, my true dream was to find a way, if God is willing that one day have 1,000 reading homes in the country.
Although, I have only studied four semesters and failed to be a scholars, God had let this former student wrote 51 books, seven of which have been filmed, and dozens appointed thesis theme; something that always threw me in gratitude and increasingly believe in the goodness of God. As remarkable figures around continues to be inspiring, I decided to keep on knitting my dreams to produce more books and dreamed that one day, if God is willing, that it will be the best seller only in the country but globally.
Dreaming alone, accompanied by prayers. What if they do not materialize? Agenda dream makes you fight with our maximum effort, whereas without dream and the courage to do anything, one thing we can be sure of is that you will never achieve anything.
I am sure there are many people who comes from families that are often denigrated as I am, but now successful in their fields. Filling a variety of events and seminars at home and abroad. Sharing little of what I know through writing, this servant of God also travelled to 60 countries and 316 cities in the world.
There are many dreams that were achieved because their owners willing to fight, without being enslaved by the category of realistic or not following the norm of what people expect.
Dream and find your courage. I believe God will open the doors of hope until God shut the door in front of us. Life itself is a journey that has becomes meaningful when it has a purpose. Turn your dreams, even better if you could contribute to realize the dreams of others.
And, if one day someone asked you about a dream, saying:
“Reach out to your dream."
Dare to dream as high, even if the fall, we will be landing in waves of clouds or the mountains above. Places are obviously higher than we dared to expect by most people.