Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

We have lived in Jakarta for a little over 6 weeks now.

I’ve been enjoying heaps of good things, like the variety of yummy food, nice family get-togethers, and the generally very friendly people (read: Customer service people here are most likely very helpful and polite).

But, I’ve also had my share of moments and personal encounters where I felt things weren’t carried out ‘the way they should’ve been’.

Like, traffic jams caused by badly managed road works (eg. Piles of soil left unattended ‘on the road’ for days), slow bank services, frequently slow internet connection, etc.

Just like any other cities around the world, Jakarta offers good and not-so-good experiences everyday.

Well, naturally.

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I took the photo above the other day.

Because I was amazed at how I could actually see a mountain view far FAR away!

I mean, I NEVER knew that I could even see a mountain, FROM Jakarta!

(And I wonder how many out of the millions living in this busy city realises it too)

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What a contrast captured in a single shot, I thought.

In the foreground, we see a view of packed buildings and houses, kinda covered in smoke/pollution. In the background, we see … a beautiful sunset, with a glimpse of a far away mountain.

As I stood and saw it all, I thought to myself, how we see something really depends on our own perspective, doesn’t it?

We can focus on the polluted city view in the foreground. Or, we can enjoy the beautiful orange sky in the background.

And really, it’s not about ‘ignoring’ the existence of the foreground. It’s more about ‘looking beyond’ the foreground, and focusing on the ‘better’ view.

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I then think to myself, how we see life, Jakarta and how we live our day to day here is similar in many ways.

We can choose to enjoy the good aspects of the city, and ‘close one eye’ on the bad stuff we encounter everyday.

It doesn’t mean we can therefore ‘ignore’ (read: be immuned from) the not-so-good experiences.

But, it’s more about looking beyond, and not putting too much energy in feeling unhappy about the bad stuff?

Ah anyway.

Personally I’d like to learn to appreciate our days here in Jakarta and not dwell too much on the ‘hiccups’.

I prefer to learn the art of looking at my glass as ‘Half Full’.

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Hope your days are ‘half full’ too, everyone! =)