The Life Choices

My father once told me a story that really made me to think for my future. Until now, sometimes I remember about it. If I'm just alone, sitting and thinking what will I be, this story always come in my head. My father's story is like this "Aldo and Ando are good friend. Aldo is known as a clever student. He always read book and study. If he has a problem to solve, he tries to think what will happen next. Not like Ando. He prefers do something directly. He doesn't think what will happen next. Both characters are unique. They are different like heaven and earth, but that's what makes them a good friend. Since they were a child, they spend time together and go to the same school. After that they go to the college and finally graduated. The thing that different from them in school or college is their scores. Because Aldo reads more books, including the schoolbooks, he often gets better score than Ando. Ando spends more time with school or college activities."

I remember my father stopped for a moment. I was confused why he did that. "Why do you stop?" I asked him.

"What do you think after they graduated?" My father asked me.

"Find a job, of course."

"Based on their character, what kind of job do you think they take?"

"Hm, I don't know, maybe as a company employee." I still didn't understand what this mean. So he continued the story. "Aldo works in a company as an employee and Ando wants to be an entrepreneur. He tries to build a business with his relations from college. He and his friends try to sell a product. At the beginning, Aldo surely gets more income than Ando. But Ando doesn't lose hope. He tries his best to sell the product so he can get the income. Years pass by, Aldo still work in his company. His position has raised and he gets more income. Ando who isn't tired of trying to sell his product, finally gets an investor who invests on him. Short story, Ando is now a success man. He has many shops in various regions, selling his products. He is now a CEO. He earns more income than Aldo."

My father stopped the story. I thought it was the end. So I asked him "So, what do you mean?" He explained it to me "The point of the story is you have to choose what do you want to be. Are you going to be Aldo or Ando. Both are success, but with different way. The advantage from Aldo's job is at the beginning, he earns more money. Maybe he gets an insurance from his company or maybe a car. The disadvantage is you work for someone. If you don't do well, you will be fired by your boss. Now, the advantage from Ando's job is he is now a CEO. He has right to control his employees. But the disadvantage is at the beginning, he has to work really hard to build his business and that requires a lot of discipline in many years and high passion. This doesn't mean if you are a smart person in school or college, you will end up in a company or otherwise, you will end up as an entrepreneur. Every person has his own abilities. Only you can find them." I just kept silent and thinking about it.

"But what if I'm not good at selling product?" I asked him.

"It's okay. As I said, every person has his own abilities. Don't force it to be something you're not sure of, just because it can make more money. But for me personally, you are still young, it's okay to work in something you don't like, but can make more money."

"If so, I could be stressed then?"

"You're still young, you are still strong in mental and physical. But know this, in the future, it's your life. One day, I won't be around anymore. You have to walk alone. At that time, you must have chosen what do you want to be. I can only tell this based on my experiences. If this doesn't suit you, it's okay. Maybe you can find another way. Find as much experiences as you can. It's okay to fall down many times. With that, you will be able to read situations, so for the next time you can determine which way you should take."

We all will be grown up. We have to choose what we want to be. I always try to not focus on the money we make, because that can make us worry. Indeed if we have a lot of money, anything we can get. But do remember, money is not everything. The most important things in life are love, family and friends.