Into the Unknown

I took the photo when my friends and I were on a boat, then we had circled the swamp in the mangrove forest area in northern Jakarta. We headed toward a river, which was not the usual route.

When I look at the photo, I come to think of something. I know this sounds too philosophical, but the photo reminds me about our life in general, where we're basically walking into the future and most of the time we have no idea whether we’re on the right track. From time to time, we’re not sure whether our decisions will bring us to the goals that we want.

The uncertainty and the inability to predict the future, is actually what makes us alive to keep going and moving forward. We might be scared or worried because we don’t know what’s going to happen. But at times, we can be very excited about it too. Then I was inspired to write this post to talk about one of my biggest decisions in 2021.

This year, I decided to continue my studies. It’s not a master’s degree (not yet), but it’s a profession program. You have to understand that this was not an easy decision for me, because I wasn’t really confident to get the acceptance knowing the university entrance exam is well-known to be very difficult. But Alhamdulillah I got accepted and I will start this August.

I know this is just the beginning. But I want to take this opportunity to thank myself for the courage of walking into the unknown; for the bravery of taking the first step; for the struggles; and for keeping the faith that Allah will give anything that we’re asking for.

Walking into the unknown is about stepping into something blurry, unpredictable, and maybe unsafe. Life is indeed full of moments when we feel that we're not sure about something in the future and wondering how much time we need to take to arrive at our destinations. I’m not yet sure where life is taking me, and I think it’s okay. The truth about walking into the unknown is that we’re not aimless, but instead we're being guided by Allah on purpose. Allah will show us the ways.