The Family Who Read

         I was raised in a family who appreciate reading. It’s all started way back when we were young. We grew up reading comic books, our parents often gave us books as our “naik kelas”’s gifts. So we ended up looking forward to books. I remember the feeling when we were anxiously waiting for our packs of books to open, couldn’t wait to read it as we already waiting for it for a long time. And as a continuation of that, by the time we were a teenager, we expand our liking to novels, and our house filled with fantasy books such as “Eragon”, “The Bartimaeus Trilogy” by Jonathan Stroud, books written by Cornelia Funke, “Maximum Ride” by James Patterson and the likes which supplied by our mother. So myself in particular found solace and curiousity in fantasy books.

         So then we developed our love for books. Growing up, each of us found our own genre, as my brother likes “Haruki Murakami”, me and my father on motivation-filled books, and my mother stays with her love for fantasy books (which I enjoyed too). I also picked up my interests on Dan Brown and Pramoedya Ananta Toer works'.

          I found my safe haven in books, libraries and the likes. All of that calms me, and as most humans do, we tend to stick to what makes us feel peaceful and serene. Books make me feel happier. Lighter. If I was asked the reason why I love books so much, my answer would be because to me, those books are everything. They literally are the window of the world. Books hold such power that makes us capable to feel, imagine and think without even have to be anywhere or to meet that particular person. Books allow you to develop your full potential without any judgement from anyone.

          There was a saying from Charlie “T” Jones that says “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read. Choose both carefully.” That saying couldn’t be more true as those are the only two things that shaped you the way you are right now. By associating with people you learn how to be compassionate to others, how to hold your anger, how to behave and basically everything about human relationship you could ever imagine. As for “the books you read” is of course’s one of the most essential and important thing you could do, as books teach you everything about life. It shaped your point of view, your thoughts, your actions, your reactions, it even able to improve your relationship with others. That’s how powerful books can be.

        So far 3 authors had changed my life greatly, my “Lightning Bolt” moment, as Gretchen Rubin says on her “Better than Before” book. So she’s the first one, the second is John C. Maxwell, and the third is Haemin Sunim. All those great teachers’ that I’m so grateful for writing those amazing books. John says on his “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” book that his greatest growth came from people ahead of him that were able to show him the way forward. He also says that some of them have helped him through personal contact, but most of them helped through the books they’ve written. That whenever he had questions, he found answers in their wisdom. That even he, the great John C. Maxwell, felt the same way that I did. He found power in books. 

       I experienced it first hand how books had changed my life. It makes my life more orderly, makes me able to live my life confidently, and it’s completely okay to be me. I learnt the latter the most from Gretchen Rubin’s book. She says “Whenever you feel confuse, just ‘be Gretchen’. Ask yourself this question : What will Gretchen do?” that very sentence threw me hard. What will I do? Gretchen made her point so clear, that it is completely okay to be yourself. To be you as a whole, unique person as you are. Your thoughts, your values, your likes, your dislikes. That everything’s okay, as long as you do no harm to others.