AIMLESS JOURNEY
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Marleen was startled when a motorcycle suddenly passed quickly in front of her. At the same time, the sound of honking horns filled Marleen’s senses, snapping her out of her reverie. Looking around, Marleen was shocked to realize that the traffic light had turned green, indicating that it was time for the vehicles to drive to their respective destinations, while Marleen had to wait for her turn to get the green light to cross the road.
As usual, today the city was bustling with people busy with their own business. The hustle and bustle of life seems very tiring as if it does not allow the owners of the body to live quietly to just enjoy the warm morning sun, the cool touch of beach water, and the cool wind that blows greeting their faces.
What is the real purpose of life?
Marleen asked herself as she continued to stare at the vehicles that were still passing by quite fast, while occasionally looking at the traffic lights in front of her which were still red, long enough before the lights finally turned green and it was time for Marleen to cross the road. She repositioned the bag on her shoulder and jogged slightly through the crowd of people who were also walking in the opposite direction. When she reached the crosswalk, Marleen’s eyes immediately caught a middle-aged man who was offering his wares to the people who were walking past her. A rose wrapped neatly in clear plastic and a white ribbon. Without realizing it, Marleen immediately put a small smile on her face, it had been a long time since she saw roses wrapped simply like that.
“Do you want to buy it?” Marleen answered the question with a small nod while smiling at the middle-aged man in front of her now, “Sure, I’ll buy one.”
“Thank you very much, this is the first flower sold today, you just made my day.”
The movement of Marleen’s hand which was retrieving some money from her bag, immediately stopped, her smile slowly disappeared, and the look of joy on her face now turned into the opposite. She asked to make sure, “Is this the first flower sold, sir?”
“Yes, the first flower.” The middle-aged man let out a long sigh, glanced at his flowers that were still neatly arranged in his rattan basket, and then with a sincere smile immediately handed a rose to Marleen. Looking at his face now, Marleen somehow felt sorry for him.
For some time now, this woman who had just graduated from college in the middle of the year had often felt very lost. It felt like she couldn’t feel any emotion other than exhaustion from the activities she did every day. It felt like Marleen was just doing what she had to do, not like before. Just a formality without caring what kind of things could make her happy. In recent times, Marleen has often asked, ‘What exactly is the goal in this life? What kind of journey do we have to go through to reach that goal? Are we really just traveling aimlessly? A journey that will be futile in the end’. These questions have been trapped in her mind for some time now. Until finally, Marleen heard the sentence spoken by the middle-aged man. It sounded meaningless to others, but really, it seemed to be a reminder for Marleen.
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She accepted the rose in front of her, hesitantly asking. “If I may know, you have been selling since what time?”
“Since morning,” the middle-aged man replied with a small smile, ”I’ve been offering these flowers, but no one wants to buy them. You’re the first, son. I’m delighted.”
Marleen was silent again. It had never occurred to her that a small thing she did like this could mean so much to someone else. All this time she had thought that something meaningful had to be a big thing, something that had to get recognition from others. The middle-aged man again seemed to answer Marleen’s questions these past few days indirectly.
It’s okay if life is a journey without a destination. Maybe you haven’t found your true destination yet. But the most important thing in adventuring to find that destination is to always do the smallest good things in life, find the small things that are worth celebrating, and realize that meaningful things are not only obtained from big things but also the small things we do. Perhaps, in the middle of this journey, we will find our true purpose in life. A goal that we must achieve, with many experiences that we have had along the way.
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Writer: Madina Siti Nur ‘Aisyah / Public Heallth ‘23
Editor: Naira Afza Salsabilla / Nutrition Science’23
