Monthly Archives: March 2011

Dear God,

I believe You’ve placed dreams within me that are yet to be realized.
Teach me to delight myself in You as I pursue the desires of my heart.
Show me Your perfect will,
May I move as far and as fast as you wish, never less or more.

I know that You bring people and circumstances into my life for a reason.
Thank You for giving me assurance.
Thank You for giving me direction.

I commit my aspirations to You.
Give me the courage to work toward my own goals
and not be swayed by the opinions of others.
Grant me the wisdom I need to accomplish Your plans for my life
and the humility to give You the glory in them.

Love,
Your Loving Daughter
Merry Riana
(Singapore, 27th March 2011, 10:47 PM)

Family time is my favorite time.

The time of my day that warms my heart the most is the time I get to spend  with my family. They are the most important people in my life.

I normally set aside weekend to spend quality time with them. My daughter can hardly wait for the time of laughter and family bonding we share on these days. We have an afternoon swim, go out, have a nice dinner, and not to forget, play with Barney, her favorite character.

My husband and I cherish every second we spend with our daughter. Vern is so adorable, especially at her current age now. It’s amazing to see how much she have grown and how fast she learn things. Everything that she do, never fail to make us laugh. She is my little princess and she is the love of my life.
I believe I am more than just a parent to my daughter; I am their role model and friend. I want to make sure that I always be there at every stage of her life, have a wonderful relationship and emotional bonding too. It is not easy, as sometimes I have to take leave just to make sure I don’t miss out any important moment of her life. But it was totally worth it.

Having quality time with  my husband is important too. Each night after my daughter have gone to bed, we relax together and talk about our day Watch our favorite DVDs or go out to watch movie and have supper together. Simple, but our nightly sessions allow us to unwind and remain emotionally and intellectually in sync.

Spending time with my family helps me cope with the stresses and challenges of life.

Today, I value my family and cherish our time together.
Family time is my favorite time.

Have a great weekend, everyone !

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man  was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and   families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military  service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the  man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where  his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and  color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while  children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite  detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.  Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive  words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see  anything? It didn’t seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt  ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He   began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that  window – and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window  began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man   watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking  stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence–deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away–no  words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he  could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his   first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:
The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice…it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like   programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips  just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

I still remember 3 weeks ago when the producer of ‘Kick Andy’ Show contacted me. Interested with my life story, they mentioned that they want to feature me on ‘Kick Andy’ and hope that my story will inspire many other Indonesians, especially the younger ones.

WOW !!! I feel so honored. ‘Kick Andy’ is the #1 TV Talk Show in Indonesia. Millions of Indonesians love the show simply because it’s unique, positive, and edgy. With the high-caliber host, Andy F. Noya, the show never failed to inspire the audience year after year.

The whole day after I received that super good news, I couldn’t stop smiling. People might think that I’m crazy yes ! Indeed I’m crazily happy hahaha…

2 weeks ago was the BIG Day. I went to the Metro TV studio for the recording.
So excited !!

Here’s the moments captured behind the scene.

Sharing my life experiences on ‘Kick Andy’ really brought me lots of memories, especially those up and down moments in my life. Moments when I struggled, when I fought for my dreams and when I shed my tears. Now I realized, that those difficult moments happened for a reason, not only to make me stronger as a person, but also to inspire others to rise up again everytime they faced difficulties and obstacles, just like what I faced many years back.

On ‘Kick Andy’, I also shared my life motto: ‘Living My Everything’
How I’ve been blessed that I can have many different roles in my life, I’m a Businesswoman, Author, Motivator, LG Ambassador, Model, Singer, and also a Mother. I shared all of these not to impress you, but to impress upon you that:

If I can do it, so can you !

There’s nothing impossible in this world. You can achieve anything you want, but you first have to believe! Believe in yourself, Believe in your dream. Have Faith!

Talking about dream, Bang Andy asked me at the show, what is my next goal? I’ve shared with him my 30th birthday resolution: “To create a positive impact in the lives of at least 1 million people, especially in Asia, morever in my own country, Indonesia’ 

Actually there’s 1 more thing that I haven’t shared, that I want to share with all of you today. My wildest dream is for me to have my own talkshow “The Merry Riana Show”, just like the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Kick Andy Show. Oprah Winfrey is my role model. She came from an unfortunate background, but not only she managed to overcome that, she also able to inspire others. People who have attended her talk show, they would say, “My life is better after talking to her and I will conquer the world”. When people saw her show on TV that’s how they became inspired and that’s how she also became as famous as Oprah. The woman can change lives. 

Just like her, I do came from less fortunate background too (although compare to her, I was considered more fortunate). I managed to overcome that, and now I want to inspire other people and encourage them to make the most of their lives.

“The Merry Riana Show” could be just my dream. Eventhough right now I still have no exact plan on how am I going to achieve that, but I believe in every word that I shared with you earlier on.

Quoting my own phrase: “If I can do it, so can you !”
I would say “If Oprah can do it, so can I !” 

8th March 2011, the world is celebrating its 100 years of International Woman’s Day. I couldn’t think a better way for me to celebrate that special day other than celebrating it with many great women. That’s why I conducted the 1-day workshop ‘I Am Woman!’

So happy to see that more than 100 women were there during the workshop. Many of them stayed back during the luch break or even after the session, just to ask more questions and also to get my advice.

There’s an old saying: “Teach a man and you teach a person, teach a woman and you teach the whole nation”

Here’s some of moments captured:

See you all in my next ‘I am Woman!’ Workshop and also my signature Woman-Only Program: ‘Woman Extraordinaire’

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

When you’re just starting out, some people may tell you that your dreams are far-fetched. Instead of listening to people who can’t see your vision or don’t believe in you, find people with a vision of their own. By spending time with visionary people, you can learn how to become all you dream to be.

Are you surrounding yourself with like-minded, positive people? If no, then Stay away from people with no vision and reach for your goals despite what others say.

Thank you Inspirational Woman Magazine for featuring me as the Inspirational Woman of The Month (Feb 2011)

Click on the picture below to read more