Saya  merokok  pada usia belasan tahun, masih duduk di bangku SMP hingga usia 42 tahun. Sungguh dapat saya rasakan nikmatnya yang waktu itu belum ada rokok berfilter. Segala macam merek rokok pernah saya isap. yang penting tembakau , dengan mengabaikan  segala gangguan kesehatan dan keuangan akibat merokok. Maka tidak mengherankan jika kita lihat orang yang taraf hidupnya tergolong miskin merokok juga, meskipun harga rokok tidak dapat dibilang murah. Memang kalau sudah jadi perokok, merokok tidak dapat ditunda dan menjadi kebutuhan. Ada keinginan berhenti  waktu itu, setelah dokter  di satuan kerja mengatakan bahwa sakit yang saya derita sebagai akibat terlalu banyak merokok, tetapi seperti yang saya uraikan  diatas, sulit  melaksanakannya.

         Kini saya bebas dari rokok, tetapi masih sering menjadi perokok pasif, karena orang lain merokok ditempat umum,terutama sarana transportasi. Bagaimana saya bisa berhenti dengan mudah dan secara langsung adalah sederhana. Kalau sekarang ada iklan di        TV yang         menawarkan cara menghentikan merokok  yang dijamin jitu , tidak akan seampuh seperti yang saya alami. Saya sudah coba berkali-kali  namun sia-sia sampai pada suatu hari anak saya  yang pada saat itu berusia 9 th tiba-tiba bertanya bernada koreksi terhadap kelakuan ayahnya yang perokok. ” Pak, di TV katanya merokok tidak baik. Kok Bapak merokok? Tertegun saya  mencermati pertanyaan yang sederhana dan  polos dari seorang anak kepada ayahnya. Benar-benar kena sanubari saya sebagai  seorang ayah yang harus selalu memberi contoh baik bagi anak. Langsung saya jawab bahwa saya berjanji tidak merokok lagi. Betapa tidak bijaknya saya bila saya melakukan hal yang dimata anak  tidak baik. Saya berpikir bila saya abaikan  bisa-bisa anak tidak akan patuh bila ditegur karena kesalahan yang dia lakukan, karena ayahnya memberikan contoh.

       Alhamdulillah 15 tahun sudah saya terbebas dari belenggu asap  tembakau yang sebenarnya racun, dan sejak itu pula  saya sangat jarang ke dokter untuk penyakit masa lalu, radang tenggorokan sampai batuk berdarah.

When your luck is down

And your world goes wrong

When life’s all uphill

And the road is long….

Keep your spirits high

For through thick and thin

You must carry on

If you are to win.

Never mind if things

Slow you down a  bit;

You’ll come out on top,

But you musn’t  quit.

According to Bono, “Beautiful Day” is about “a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has.”^{[citation needed]}

The song is an optimistic anthem that opens with a drum machine and a rhythm sequencer. The verses are relatively quiet before The Edge‘s guitar and the song’s signature riff join in for the choruses. The Edge recorded this song on his Gibson Les Paul Standard and plays the song live with his Gibson Explorer, which helps add the distinctive shimmering, chiming sound that made the band unique when they first debuted in the early 1980s.

In an episode of the Sundance Channel‘s Iconoclast, R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe said “I love that song. I wish I’d written it, and they know I wish I’d written it. It makes me dance, It makes me angry that I didn’t write it.” Beautiful Day also opens ITV’s football show “The Championship”, and previously ITV’s “Premiership” referring to soccer making a beautiful day.

Response

Beautiful Day is the most known track on the All That You Can’t Leave Behind album, and has been regarded as one of U2′s most famous songs. The song hit No.1 on charts in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland and also boosted sales of All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Beautiful Day is included on The Best of 1990-2000 and U218 Singles.

The song won three Grammys in 2001: “Record of the Year“, “Song of the Year“, and “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal“.

In 2008 the song was chosen to play over the end titles of the children’s film Nim’s Island, starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler.

Sen. Barack Obama is using the song as his entrance for campaign events during his 2008 Presidential Run.

Live history

Ever since its tour debut at the first date of the Elevation Tour on March 24, 2001 in Miami, “Beautiful Day” has been played at every single full tour concert, as well as a number of promotional appearances and concerts not connected with a tour. On the Elevation Tour, “Beautiful Day” was normally the second song played, though it did open one show and was played late in the setlist at two concerts. During the Vertigo Tour, it has appeared in the first half of the main set. It is featured on the live films Elevation 2001: Live from Boston, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, and Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago. The song was also performed on stage to open the Live 8 concerts, with slightly different lyrics that mentioned the different sites that Live 8 concerts took place in, along with “Vertigo” and “One“, at Hyde Park in London. It was performed live in New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXVI and for the New Orleans Saints first game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

in our beliefs

in our philosophies

in our understanding of things

We may come to realize

it is not important

that we always agree

Only that we respect each other’s

right to be different

Only that we respect each other’s

right to be heard

                                              Mychal Wynn