Practice 10,000 Times

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

-Bruce Lee-

That quote from Bruce Lee is one of my favourite quotes. It gives me strength when I fail on something, when I start over learning, or when I practice something.

When I fail and try again, I always remember that quote. Take a real example: failing on exam. Once I failed on my neurology exam then I took a remedial test. I found out that I failed on my remedial test so that I had to take a "short semester". In short semester, we had lecture again then we took another exam. I passed my exam after that short semester. That was the time when I found this quote. After finding it, I told a "serious joke" to my mother. I said, "Mom, this is a quote from Bruce Lee. He fears the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. Well, I've studied neurology three times: before exam, before remedial test, and in short semester. It means that I have to study neurology 9,997 times more to master it while my friends who don't have to take short semester still have to study it 9,999 or 9,998 times more."

It doesn't mean that I'm happy when I fail. Of course I'm sad when I fail. I'm normal. I just see failure as a chance to learn. Even if I don't fail, that quote still works when I start over learning. I actually learned Russian when I was in secondary school then for some reason (or without reason) I didn't continue learning it. Now I decide to learn Russian again and I've started over studying the letters. At first I was like, "I think I don't have to study the letters. I'm capable of reading and writing it." However, even some information or ability can vanish if you don't use or practice it for a long time and that's what happened to me. I tried to read a Russian text. I could read it but it took a long time because I needed more time to remember the letter then I decided to study the letters again. Well, I have to practice Russian 10,000 times to master it.

If you're currently trying to achieve or master something but you experience a lot of failure, Keep trying. You need to practice 10,000 times.

Writing Prompts

I like to write but I often can't decide what to write. I browsed through Google and I found websites called creativewritingprompts.com and journalingprompts.com Try to visit those sites if you want to write something with unexpected prompts.

25 Minutes: My First Impromptu Post

I used "inspire me!" feature in WordPress and it says, "Take a line from a song that you love or connect with. Now forget the song, and turn that line into the title or inspiration for your post." I've never tried impromptu writing before. I used to make draft first then edit it and finally post it to my blog. This time I write directly in my blog after I got the prompt from WordPress. 

I recently listen a song by MLTR entitled "25 Minutes". For some reason I don't want to explain the lyrics. I just want to write that in that song, the guy is 25 minutes too late. Whoa, 25 minutes doesn't seem short but it's not long either. However, in such duration, a great change can happen. Take your time, use it carefully. Some things should be done quickly while others are better done slowly. You decide how you should use your time.

p.s. I have WordPress page but the contents are the same with this blog. 

Some Call It Black Dog: My View on Depression

Wow, I create a cool title (in my opinion). Hopefully the content is as cool as the title.

I won’t write about depression in medical term because I haven’t studied psychiatry thoroughly. I’m going to write what I know from experience.

Recently I found a video in YouTube entitled “I hada black dog, his name was depression”. It’s an interesting video created by Matthew Johnstone. I then visited his website and I saw some interesting graphic based on his experience in depression and how he dealt with it.

I’ve ever felt depressed, too. One day, I suddenly felt sad and bored then I cried and I couldn’t focus on studying. I stopped crying for a while and I browse the internet to read about depression. I took a depression-anxiety-stress test and I found out that I experienced moderate depression and stress.

From Johnstone’s video, my experience, and other information that I got, it’s important to be honest about your feeling. I don’t suggest you to hit anyone you hate for the sake of honesty. I mean that you don’t have to pretend to be happy when you’re actually not. I wasted my time convincing myself that I was fine while in fact I wasn’t. When you feel sad, talk to someone you trust. Tell them about your feeling. If you don’t know whom to talk to, try to write in journal. Write anything that you feel honestly and what may cause you feel that. Don’t wait until that bad feeling accumulate and explode. It’s also important to take enough sleep.

Finally, try to accept and forgive yourself. In my opinion, it’s difficult to change yourself to be a better person if you don’t forgive yourself at first.

P. S. How was the content? Was it as cool as the title?

When Will You Speak Russian Fluently?

It may sound strange but it happens. Recently when I see my friends achieve something, win contests, or such things, my mind always questions, “When will you speak Russian fluently?”

As I’ve ever written in this blog (you can read the post here), I often envy people for their achivement and such feeling can actually be positive if you're motivated to be a better person. However this time I’m not motivated to gain the same achievement. I’m motivated to speak Russian instead.

I can’t explain why but let me try to explain. I wrote that I liked learning language and I was interested in Russia. Perhaps deep in my mind I view speaking Russian fluently as an achievement.

Finally I want to thank my friends whose achievement inspires me to speak Russian. Go and achieve more so I can speak Russian sooner.

Я не русская но я говорю по-русски.

LIstening Project

There are a lot of articles saying we should find our talent and passion. The problem, I'm not sure what actually my talent is. I'm not an artist and I'm not good at sport either. However, I find out that since I was kid, I have always been talkative. I talked a lot and I still do. I also listen. I often listen to my friends talking about their problem without giving any advice.

My listening skill is quite good but I'm not good at hearing. Yes, listening is different from hearing. According to Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary, Fourth Edition, listen means pay attention to sb/sth that you can hear while hear means be aware of sounds with your ears. My teacher explained, "When you listen, you intend to do it before but when you hear, you may not intend to do it. Example: I heard the thunder while listening to the song. Can you see the difference? In that sentence, I had intended to listen to the music but I hadn't expected to hear the thunder." Back to the topic, I'm not so good at hearing to the point that my mother accused me of having hearing problem. She intends to take me to ENT clinic while in fact, I just sometimes focus too much on what I do that I can't hear her calling me. I once wrote in this blog that I was difficult to concentrate. Yes, I am but once I concentrate, I do it totally.

I guess I have talent for communication so I make a project which I call "Listening Project". Since I talk a lot, I think it's important to make more time for listening. In this project, I'm dedicating a week from Tuesday, April 29th to Monday, May 5th for listening to people. I'll just listen to them and respond if it's necessary then I take note of what they say and share some in this blog.

p.s. I'm sorry if I sound like bragging about my suspected talent. By the way, I still believe I have talent for communication in spite of my failure in communication OSCE.

Parents' Thought

Today I went home from campus by bus. I spent my time in the bus reading my lecture note. On the half of my journey, a woman and her little son sat beside me. The woman noticed my reading and asked if I was going to have exam. Soon she discovered that I was (I still am, by the way) a medical student.

She asked me how much it costed to enter medical school and how much I had to pay each semester. I told her how much and I also said that the cost rised every year. She also told me that she wanted her son to be a doctor and she had been saving money for that.

“We have no idea what Indonesia would be like in the future and what profession will be needed much in this country,” she said. “However, doctors are always needed. That’s why I want my son to be a doctor,” she continued.

During conversation, I mostly listened. So many things happened in my mind while listening. I saw how parents concerned a lot about their children’s future even before the children  thought about it. I said parents because I remembered my parents while that woman talked about her son. I also realised that doctor was still considered a profession with future certainty while in fact I’m sometimes still uncertain about my future as a doctor.

That conversation also reminded me how I had really wanted to be a doctor when I was in high school and how my mother had convinced me a lot of time to change my decision. My mother thought that medical school was not a “happy place” and now I’m a medical student, I find out that medical school can be both happy and sad place at the same time. However, as my mother said, “It is your choice. Now study.”

It’s still a long journey ahead for me to be a doctor and a long time ahead for that woman’s son to make decision. I wish them a good present and future.