Desi Anwar

A Simple Life

I found this book on June 2015 in a bookstore and instantly fell in love with it at the first sight. I’m so excited to know that this book is written in English -with affordable price, compared to imported books. A Simple Life is a book written by my favorite journalist, news anchor and presenter, Desi Anwar and published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama. This book contains 53 parts about Desi’s thoughts, perspective and opinion about living a simple yet meaningful life. Desi Anwar has a great interest in photography and she included many of photos taken by her during her visit to many countries, such as Italy, Poland, India, Austria and Finland.

I’ve read this book many times and never get bored. I got new insights everytime I re-read her book. Desi poured her thoughts trough this book with a simple explanation yet so touching and inspiring. My favorite part of this book is “The Perpetual Learner” which is about her father’s will to continue to learn even on his sixties. Her father was a lecturer and when he was not teaching he would be reading all sorts of books and taking up activities to challenge his mind, for example, learning new language. Desi writes that most people think that there is a period in their life which they devote to learning and acquiring skills, then there is a period where life itself take over and living become a series of tasks and responsibilities. She also write that her father never reached senility or lost his mental faculties. On the day when he passed away, he still teaching his students in the morning. 

Here’s some of my favorite quotes from A Simple Life.

• Things such as keeping good health, developing good habits, surrounding oneself with loving friends, enjoying nature, learning new things, slowing down, may not count much in today's world of relentless pursuit of success, material wealth and social status. And yet, at the end of the day, it is these things, the laughter with those we love, the quiet moment spent on our own, the joy of being out in the fresh air with the grass beneath our feet, that we enjoy and really matter to us.

• Nature is cruel. But the will to live is strong.

• Just a few minutes of paying attention to your breathing twice a day is sufficient to keep you grounded and positive.

• The world is a big place full of wonderful exciting and mysterious things to discover and explore. Every day is an invitation to adventure and to have fun.

• We can actually choose how we grow. As a matter of fact, there's absolutely no need to grow "older" as such. The accumulation of years and the experience that go with them don't require us to become stiff and inflexible in our cynicism and seriousness about life.

• When we free ourselves from assumptions, judgmental thinking and hardened opinions, we basically free our mind to be much more open to new ideas, new thoughts, new perspectives and differences, thus infinitely enriching our minds and our lives. 

• To be like a child is not the same as being childish, but it is to retain our natural capacity to stay curious about life and to see the world as a wonderful playground where we can expand our abilities to the maximum. 

• If we don't enjoy our own company, how we could expect other people to do so? We shouldn't seek other people's company only in order to escape from ourselves. 

• We can be a lot more generous about spending quality time with others when we've already spent enough time with ourselves.

• My father was a life long-learner. He was somebody who never stopped to learn or study something new just because he had reached a certain stage or age in his life.

• That the most important thing in life to invest in, is not in material things, but in your own brain.

• Simply go outside for a walk or hang out with a bunch of friends over coffee and chat to one heart's content. But leave the gadget behind or turned off. It's hard. But it's well worth it. 

• Being present in everything we do is also very rewarding as it opens our eyes and our mind to a world that is rich and far from superficial. 

• And what is perfect life, if not a state of constant joy and gratitude? 

• Book can expand your mind, widen your horizon and open you up to be a person of the world, familiarizing you with different opinions and perspectives, so you’re not stuck in the narrow mindedness of the ignorant and the uninformed.

• One of the hardest things to do in life is to move on. Because it implies letting go of the past and the fear of losing that with which we are familiar and the identity to which we have become attached. 

• After you did your best but still can’t get the result you want, then by all means, just change your mind about it. 

• Who says you have to have it just because you want it? There are many other things that you can do as long as you open yourself up to other possibilities. 

• I learned that life was best enjoyed to the full as it came and not by too much thinking about it.

• Nothing was worth getting depressed and disappointed about, that it took away one’s capacity to enjoy life in all it’s ups and downs. 

• We are more than just this being going back and forth trying to make a living or creating a life for ourselves. We are life itself. 

• So, what is the best way of listening? One that can generate positive feelings on both side and create a mutually agreeable and satisfactory form of communication. 

• We have to listen with our heart and mind open, free of our internal voice of judgment and criticism as well as the mental noise that form a constant backdrop to our inner world. 

• I had never felt more in control of my own life. And all I did was change my perspective about how I looked at my situation. 

• The way we look at things can determine our state of mind. 

• Happiness it seems, is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. It is not a state that must be pursued, like hunger that needs to be fulfilled, but a state of gratitude –the thankful prayer for having been blessed with a meal to enjoy. 

• Thus I learned that happiness is wanting, enjoying and appreciating what we already have. 

• I seldom look behind. Confident instead that whatever lies ahead will be better and more interesting. 

• My friend rarely gets upset or flustered over things, but greets both rain and shine with an easy equanimity that makes her a pleasant person to have around. 

• The magic formula for her is seizing the day and enjoying every moment of it.

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