EXTRAORDINARY YOU: AFTERTHOUGHTS

The final episode of my best currently airing kdrama aired two days ago. It’s safe to say that as I expected, the final episode was underwhelming, so many questions were left unanswered. Ultimately, it was a meaningful drama due to its ability to make me ponder on life in general.

In the drama, a writer overrules most of their choices, they live in the world of a comic book, almost existing completely at the mercy of an unknown writer of the comic book. In real life we have more autonomy but ultimately our fate is decided by our creator, and nothing happens without His knowledge. I found that analogy poignant. And that’s why Extraordinary You will go down as one of my top ten kdramas. If the ending had been satisfying, it would easily have been among my top five.

Every day I make choices, sometimes I wonder just how much responsibility to take, particularly for my bad choices. But upon deeper thought, I discover that whether the choices are right or wrong doesn’t matter, I am responsible no matter what. It scares me because I think I’m an evil person when I make wrong choices or decide to engage in sin. In my current reality, I am more bothered by the afterlife than the dunya. I just want a decent living so that I don’t end up begging for what to eat to survive. And this possibility scares me as I approach the end of my national service. And this is where faith comes in. I have absolute believe in the almighty that I will be looked after. And so part of the worry goes. I always try to be optimistic but at the same time I am realistic with my expectations so as to avoid disappointment.

The analogy of Extraordinary You to my life is in the fact that sometimes I feel helpless and tend to lose hope. It’s hard to find a drama that hits so close to home. I will try to take more control of my life as I go further. And I will remember Extraordinary You and Eun Dan-oh and Haru for a long time. I will make sure to apply the lessons I learnt. They may not have been religious but I still get to learn from them and practice my religion better.

Another analogy is that all the characters who became self-aware are like those who understand that the purpose of life is to worship Allah. Becoming self-aware is to realise that attaining paradise should be our ultimate goal in life. Without that, we would realise that or lives have been a waste as we draw our last. May Allah protect us from the ultimate regret.

May we be successful in this life and the next.