What motivates you?

Everybody have their own motivation to do anything in life. I need a motivation to wake up from bed, bike to school, go out through the rain to buy groceries, learn something new, and so on.

I recently read an article (in Indonesian) from Indonesian non-profit organisation / movement called Pengajar Muda (Young Teachers). It is an organisation which distributes young educated people to teach for a year in some remote places in Indonesia. 

The article has struck me at how it tells the readers about how simple things might inspire the students. In brief, it is about the curiosity of the students when their teacher told them about snow. When the teacher showed them a documentary on his tiny laptop (watched by around 80 students) about snow, those students couldn't help but perplexed at how strange, beautiful, and fun it seemed to see and play with the snow. Later on, the teacher wrote, "You may live in a small village, or in an island out-of-nowhere. But you have to dream higher and higher each day, It is do-able!"

All students carefully stared at the small laptop screen 

Read the article here (in Indonesian): Melihat Salju - Seeing the Snow

I can totally relate to this. Almost a month ago I saw the snow for the first time (yes, your eyes are reading it right!). It's unbelievable how the snow which I had only seen from the movies before (Home Alone movies) looks so much better in real. How can it be possible that these delicate shaved-ice fall from the sky so gracefully and make everything looks beautiful?? Even the usually dull rooftops looks like fairy tale houses with snow on top of it - I'm not exaggerating. Coming from a tropical country, the idea of having winter (plus snow) is so out of my imagination.

But that was the moment when I (again) found the reason why I decided to study far away from home. To see and experience things that I have never experienced before. I know now, this is my motivation to study harder, to work, to travel, to get to know different people, to get amazed by these small things.

A whole field full of happiness

When I was around 5 years old I met some foreigners who are colleagues of my dad. My parents taught me to say some basic words to say to these foreigners, mainly "Mister", and "Come on". But I ended up saying it "Came on" - sounds wrong but somehow that happened. When we wen to see a volcano with these guys, and we're off to go, I tried to say "came on" and nobody answered. My brother said "Let's go" and the others replied "let's go". So I realized I must did it wrong. That was one reason why I was keen on learning English at an early age, so that when I meet a foreigner I can communicate with them, and talk with these funny-looking guys from a far-far-away land.

That was my motivation to learn my first foreign language.

Every motivation is very personal, based on our own experience, goals, expectations, or maybe even what the others' expect from us. It doesn't necessarily come before the execution. Often my motivation drives me to take a drastic, ambitious step. Soon after I start the process the reality strikes and I begin to lose that motivation. But as I try to keep in track for a while, usually a new motivation comes by, reminds me of why I decided to do this thing, and somehow made me feeling grateful about such opportunity.

So when you lose some motivation, maybe it's time to just look around. Take a step back and see how it made you become the person you are right now. Take a step forward to see how you were back in the time before you do it. See the experience from a different perspective. Or if needed, take a break and do something totally different.

And after all that, maybe you'll find your new motivation to go on. Or perhaps, a new motivation to start over on a different path. You decide.