Ivana Atmojo

My watch showed that it was 17.08 PM yesterday when I found myself being stuck & panicking in bad traffic, on the way to the hospital. Sitting in the car felt  like forever and wishing that the traffic would be a little loose soon seemed to be the only thing I could do. 

When we reached the hospital, I quickly ran to get a wheel chair for my aunt who’s been terribly ill & had been to the ICU just the day before (it was her gall bladder infection giving her the most dreadful upper-stomach cramp; she was soooooo in pain that she couldn’t even talk & move by herself). I then pushed the chair & ran as fast as I could to the registration counter. Just when I was about to proceed, my aunt just couldn’t help feeling nauseous anymore & threw up on the floor. She was so weak that she nearly fell from the chair—I had to hold her body while pushing her wheel chair, running to the ER. The man in the registration counter sat still on his chair, giving me an idiotic blank look, not offering any help at all. 

I was running everywhere to get the doctor (since it was about the time to break the fast, I actually had a difficulty finding people). I was so relieved when I finally saw the doctor coming to the ER. When he entered the room, he saw another doctor, and guess what happened? THEY CHATTED & JOKED! He actually stopped right there in the middle of the room, gossiping with his fellow doctor. I stood there in disbelief…..OMG..this is the ER, and it wrote large EMERGENCY outside. Why was there no sense of emergency at all? It was just UNBELIEVABLE!!! 

Long story short: despite the unhelpful & terribly slow staff in the hospital; despite all the running around I did (God Bless whoever invented flat shoes & whoever put them back in this season), at the end of the day, I was glad and really relieved that I got my aunt a nice & cozy room where she could be properly treated. 

It breaks my heart to see my aunt so ill and so in pain. She looks like a different person, so pale, and fragile, and helpless—lying on the bed with intravenous pipe. She’s had the USG & EKG & lungs X-ray this morning, I hope the doctor will finally be able to pinpoint the real problem soon.  

As I sat in the hospital room, I realized I’ve learnt some really important things. I learn that without our health, we really are nothing. We could be on top of the world one day, but the day after, it could be a completely different story. For that reason, we should live for the NOW and the PRESENT. And that not only means that we have to take a good care of our HEALTH every single day, but also that we better be thankful for our blessing, our life, and the people in our life. We become a better person if we realise how lucky we’ve been, and how much we’ve been loved. Furthermore, I think it’s important to:  

(1.) Never take anyone for granted, be grateful that you have a person/people around you who love you for who you are. Treat them well !!! ;  

(2) Be generous & be kind to everyone. Do not judge someone from his/her negative traits, but appreciate that someone for his/her positive qualities. Befriend everyone, treat everyone well, and care for the other people. Always & ALWAYS see ONLY the best in each person.;  

(3) Live your life to the fullest: our life & the people we love around us are not eternal. When things should come to an end, the only way that we don’t regret anything—is when we know that we have lived each & every day of our life to the FULLEST.   

Amidofo… 

(Or say whatever prayers you believe in) J