My philosophy for a happy life, Sam Berns TED x Mid Atlantic

My philosophy for a happy life, Sam Berns  TED x Mid Atlantic

My philosophy for a happy life, Sam Berns  TED x Mid Atlantic

Transcriber: Sm Masum Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo Hello everyone. I'm Sam, and I just turned 17. A few years ago, before my freshman year in High School, I wanted to play snare drum in the Foxboro High School Marching Band, and it was a dream that I just had to accomplish. But each snare drum and harness weighed about 40 pounds each, and I have a disease called Progeria. So just to give you an idea, I weigh only about 50 pounds. So, logistically, 

I really couldn't carry a regular-sized snare drum, and because of this, the band director assigned me to play pit percussion during the halftime show. Now pit percussion was fun. It involved some really cool auxiliary percussion instruments, like the bongos, timpani, and timbales, and cowbell. So it was fun, but it involved no marching, and I was just so devastated. However, nothing was going to stop me from playing snare drum with the marching band in the halftime show. 

So my family and I worked with an engineer to design a snare drum harness that would be lighter, and easier for me to carry. So after continuous work, we made a snare drum apparatus that weighs only about 6 pounds. (Applause) I just want to give you some more information about Progeria. It affects only about350 kids today, worldwide. So it's pretty rare, and the effects of Progeria include tight skin, lack of weight gain, stunted growth, and heart disease. Last year my Mom and her team of scientists published the first successfulProgeria Treatment Study, and because of this I was interviewed on NPR, and John Hamilton asked me the question: "What is the most important thing that people should know about you?" And my answer was simply that I have a very happy life. (Applause) So even though there are many obstacles in my life, with a lot of them being created by Progeria, I don't want people to feel bad for me. 

I don't think about these obstacles all the time, and I'm able to overcome most of them anyway. So I’m here today, to share with you my philosophy for a happy life. So, for me, there are 3 aspects of this philosophy. So this is a quote from the famous Ferris Bueller. The first aspect of my philosophy is that I’m okay with what I ultimately can’t do because there is so much I can do. Now people sometimes ask me questions like, "Isn’t it hard living with Progeria?" or "What daily challenges of Progeria do you face?" And I’d like to say that, even though I have Progeria, most of my time is spent thinking about things that have nothing to do with Progeria at all. Now, this doesn’t mean that I ignore the negative aspects of these obstacles. When I can’t do something like run a long-distance or go on an intense roller coaster, I know what I’m missing out on. But instead,I choose to focus on the activities that I can do through things that I’m passionate about, like scouting, or music, or comic books, or any of my favorite Boston sports teams. Yeah, so --(Laughter) 

However, sometimes I need to find a different way to do something by making adjustments, and I want to put those things in the "can do" category. Kind of like you saw with the drum earlier. So here’s a clip with me playing Spider-Man with the Foxboro High School Marching Band at halftime a couple of years ago. (Video)  Spider-Man theme song  (Applause) Thank you. All right, all right, so -- That was pretty cool, and so I was able to accomplish my dream of playing snare drum with the marching band, as I believe I can do for all of my dreams. So hopefully, you can accomplish your dreams as well, with this outlook. The next aspect to my philosophy is that I surround myself with people I want to be with, people of high quality. I’m extremely lucky to have an amazing family, who have always supported me throughout my entire life. 

And I’m also really fortunate to have a really close group of friends at school. Now we’re kind of goofy, a lot of us are band geeks, but we really enjoy each other’s company, and we help each other out when we need to. We see each other for who we are on the inside. So this is us goofing off a little bit. So we’re juniors in High School now, and we can now mentor younger band members, as a single collective unit. What I love about being in a group like a band, is that the music that we make together, is true, is genuine, and it supersedes Progeria. So I don’t have to worry about that when I’m feeling so good about making music. But even having made a documentary, going on TV a couple of times, I feel like I’m at my highest point when I’m with the people that surround me every day. They provide the real positive influences in my life, as I hope I can provide a positive influence in theirs as well. (Applause) Thank you. So the bottom line here, is that I hope you appreciate and love your family, love your friends, for you guys, love you Bro’s and acknowledge your mentors, and your community because they are a very real aspect of everyday life, they can make a truly significant, positive impact. 

The third aspect of the philosophy is, Keep moving forward. Here’s a quote by a man you may know, named Walt Disney, and it’s one of my favorite quotes. I always try to have something to look forward to. Something to strive for to make my life richer. It doesn’t have to be big. It could be anything from looking forward to the next comic book to come out, or going on a large family vacation, or hanging out with my friends, to going to the next high school football game. However, all of these things keep me focused, and know that there's a bright future ahead, and may get me through some difficult times that I may be having. Now, this mentality includes staying in a forward-thinking state of mind. I try hard not to waste energy feeling badly for myself, because when I do, I get stuck in a paradox, where there’s no room for any happiness or any other emotion. Now, it’s not that I ignore when I’m feeling bad, I kind of accept it, I let it in so that I can acknowledge it, and do what I need to do to move past it. When I was younger, I wanted to be an engineer. 

I wanted to be an inventor, who would the catapult the world into a better future. Maybe this came from my love of Legos, and the freedom of expression that I felt when I was building with them. And this was also derived from my family and my mentors, who always make me feel whole,and good about myself. Now today my ambitions have changed a little bit, I’d like to go into the field of Biology, maybe cell biology, or genetics, or biochemistry, or really anything. This is a friend of mine, who I look up to, Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, and this is us at TEDMED last year, chatting away. I feel that no matter what I choose to become, I believe that I can change the world. And as I’m striving to change the world,I will be happy. About four years ago, HBO began to film a documentary about my family and called “Life According to Sam”. That was a pretty great experience, but it was also four years ago. And like anyone, my views on many things have changed, and hopefully matured, like my potential career choice. However, some things have stayed the same throughout that time. Like my mentality, and philosophy towards life. So I would like to show you a clip of my younger self from the film, that I feel embodies that philosophy. (Video) I know more about it genetically. So it’s less of an embodiment now. 

It used to be like this thing that prevents me from doing all this stuff, which causes other kids to die, which causes everybody to be stressed, and now it's a protein that is abnormal, which weakens the structure of cells. So, and it takes a burden off of me because now I don’t have to think about Progeria as an entity. Okay, pretty good, huh? (Applause) Thank you. So, as you can see I’ve been thinking this way for many years. But I’d never really had to apply all of these aspects of my philosophy to the test at one time, until last January. I was pretty sick, I had a chest cold, and I was in the hospital for a few days, and I was secluded from all of the aspects of my life that I felt made me, me, that kind of gave me my identity. But knowing that I was going to get better, and looking forward to a time that I would feel good again, helped me to keep moving forward. 

And sometimes I had to be brave, and it wasn’t always easy. Sometimes I faltered, I had bad days, but I realized that being brave isn't supposed to be easy. And for me, I feel it’s the key way to keep moving forward. So, all in all, I don’t waste energy feeling bad for myself. I surround myself with people that I want to be with, and I keep moving forward. So with this philosophy, I hope that all of you, regardless of your obstacles, can have a very happy life as well. Oh, wait, hang on a second, one more piece of advice –- (Laughter) Never miss a party if you can help it. My school’s homecoming dance is tomorrow night, and I will be there. Thank you very much. (Applause)

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The Muslim on the airplane, Amal Kassir, TEDxMileHighWomen

The Muslim on the airplane, Amal Kassir, TEDxMileHighWomen

The Muslim on the airplane, Amal Kassir, TEDxMileHighWomen

Translator: Sm Masum Reviewer: 

Peter van de Ven Whenever I travel, I carry a little metal boxof Altoids mints because after a four-hour,7 AM flight, everyone has bad breath, so almost anyoneis willing to take the mint from the Muslim on the airplane. (Laughter) And I know I've been successfulwhen my neighbor turns and asks, "So, what's your name?" 

You see, even if there wasan elephant in the room, I'm still the elephant in the room. (Cheer) Yeah! When an elephantoffers you mints on an airplane, I'm fully aware thatit's not always easy to accept, so when the courageously curiousdo pop the what's-your-name question, I try to make it worth their while. (Laughter) My name is Amal. It means 'hope' in Arabic. Most days my name is waitressat my family's Damascus restaurant, full-time university studentand then some, pre-law, world traveler, 11 countries. My name is I've performed poetryin eight of those countries. (Cheers) (Applause) 

International spoken word poet,unapologetic Muslim woman. Syrian, American, hijabi,activist, social justice advocate. My name is writer, teacher,Colorado-born Mile High baby! (Laughter) (Applause) But at the airport,my name is random search. (Laughter) And on the street, it's terrorist, sand nigger, raghead, oppressed, and on the news, it's ISIS, jihadi, suspect, radical. My name is, "Could your Muslimneighbor be an extremist?" My mama, who wears the hijab,the Islamic headdress, is often referred to as"Go back to you country," but she's from Iowa! (Laughter) And her nickname is Lisa Pizza. (Laughter) And it does not take morethan a couple questions to figure out that her countryis the Council Bluffs cornfields. (Laughter) But, how would someoneknow this without asking? They say the shortest distancebetween two people is a story. Well, I elaborate on that to saythat the greatest distance you can travel in the shortest amount of time,is by asking someone their name. 

The way we name ourselvesis a reflection of who we are, our declarations, family histories,the things we believe, the morals we abide by,our homes, cultures, transformations. Like a Mohammed turned Mo,or a Lisa Pizza turned Iman. And how we name others, and how,if, we allow others to name themselves is a reflection of our own declarations, of our courage, and our fear. The malleability of a person's storymust be self-determined, coming from the lips of the storyteller, not the anchorman, not the megaphone, not even the scarf on her heador the melanin in his skin, because no one can speakthe names of billions in one breath, unless it's in prayer, and oftentimes when we generalize,it isn't because we're praying. And when we don't ask someone their name,we're not asking for their story. In the world of mass mediaand rampant misinformation, it is hard for anyone, including myself, to deconstruct all theseterrifying stories that we hear. 

Sometimes, instead of isolating them,individualizing them, we tend to paint a group of peoplewith a broad brush, until suddenly, everyone with a hijab onis a raghead that needs liberating, or everyone with white skinis a racist cracker, or everyone with black skinis a fatherless nigger, or everybody who looks like my fatheris going to blow up the airplane, or if the killer had a light complexion,he's just a mentally fragile lone wolf. And we come to this point where we feel like we don't even needto ask people their names because we already gave it to them. In Europe right now,a monumental name change is taking place that has completely transformeda humanitarian responsibility. Countries are deporting refugees, but when you watch news coverage, these refugeesare being referred to as migrants. Because let's face it, deporting migrantssounds way more reasonable than deporting individualswho have been forced to flee their country because of persecution,war, and violence - the United Nations definition of refugee. (Applause) And in naming these people this way, we've attributed to them a choiceinstead of a circumstance, some economic gain insteadof a desperation to flee a war zone. These little onesare refugees, not migrants. I took this photo last yearat a refugee camp on the Syrian-Turkish border,and contrary to popular belief, they aren't poisons. 

They're not here to steal our democracy or to take over our neighborhoods. They're people, families who wish that they could go home but have had to makethat home somewhere else. And we've come to this point,where the word 'migrant' essentially means piles of brown,foreign-speaking people, and we end up forgettingthat there was a point where some people would've consideredthose who looked like this to be migrants as well. (Applause) Right, though? (Applause) And it is in this forgetfulnessthat we assume, monopolize on people's stories,attribute their race, social class, religions, clothing to the namesthat we chose for them. Terrorism is a finemodern-day example, unfortunately. In the past few years, so much violencehas just spread across our country, but when you watch the news,there's always a specification as to whether or notterrorism was involved, which I think we all knowmeans the killer looked like this. [Arab dude] Which... (Laughter) He's a babe! Which must mean... (Laughter) Which must mean that the killer,of course, pledges his allegiance to this. [ISIS] Right? 

But correct me if I'm wrong, news coveragedoes in fact tend to be a little different when the terrorist looks like this. [Robert Dear, Planned Parenthood Shooter] (Applause) And it ultimatelyhas us forgetting that terrorism, by definition of terrorism, has always come in all shapes [Ku Klux Klan] and colors. [Timothy McVeigh, Oklahoma City Bomber] (Cheers) (Applause) And what happens when we confinecertain names with certain depictions, wrongfully excluding someand including others, we end up caging masses of peopleunder a name that says 'dangerous,' even if they're nowhere near it. Like when we say 'thug'instead of 17-year-old black child. [Trayvon Martin] When we say 'alien'instead of 'immigrant.' 

When we say 'lazy poor people'instead of 'unequal wealth distribution.' When we say 'bomb' instead of 'clock.' [Ahmed Mohammad, clock inventor] (Applause) (Cheers) This man's name is Craig Hicks. He's often referred toas a parking dispute, but his real name is a man who shotand killed three Americans in their homes, in their heads, execution stylebecause they were Muslim. His name is hate crime. Their names are Deah, Yusor, and Razan, a 23 year old, 21, and 19. Deah and Yusor were just namedhusband and wife, newlyweds, and the three were knownby their loved ones as sons and daughters, brothers,sisters, students, activists, Instagrammers, tax payers, Americans. But now, their namesare too young to have been taken, their names are rest in peace,Allah Yerhamo. Hicks did not ask them their name. He assigned it to themwhen he assigned them each a bullet, named them a threat to his America,and as a result, took their lives. This is a photoon Deah and Yusor's wedding day. It's so beautiful. 

They were killedbefore they could even see this. Studies show that duringbreaking news coverage, the first story is the onethat sticks, even if it isn't true. Like during the Paris attacks, when there was talkthat refugees were dangerous because they found a passport, only to later confirm that there wereno Syrians or refugees involved. But when we have sucha huge habit of misnaming people, it's easy to overlookthese kinds of mistakes. And this is exemplaryof what happens in a culture of fear. In a society that doesn't askone another their names, you end up with the mouth of an anchorman or the mouth of a gundoing all the talking. On September 11th, 2001, I attended a private K-8 Islamic school, and within the first hours of the tragedy, my school received two bomb threats. The word 'terrorist'was not on my spelling list, but all of us kids picked it uppretty soon after. And in naming us terroristsamidst this mass tragedy that affected us as Americans too, in the words of Dalia Mogahed, we were not just mourners,but we were suspects as well. But, a few months ago, me and my very handsome,white-boy-looking brother named Usama were at the museumbuying planetarium tickets, and an elderly white manwalked up to me and said, "I'm sorry about everythingyou must be going through right now. I want you to know that not all Americansbelieve what these buffoons are saying." (Applause) "Yeah, he used the word 'buffoons!'" (Applause) 

And he said, "I want you to knowthat we stand by you." Now, had I not been wearinga little piece of my identity on my head, he wouldn't have known to tell me this. And even though he didn't ask mewhat my name was, he instead told me his. I have learned from experiencethat when someone really wants to know, they will be willing to crossthat threshold of fear and find out that my name means hope. And then, they'll have the courageto ask the much more important questions that probably only I can answer, like, "What's that thing on your head? Were you forced to wear it? Are all Muslims really violent people? Does the Quranreally say to kill all of us? Can you please tell mewhat's up with ISIS?" 

And these questions,though seemingly uncomfortable, are how I know that I have been humanized, and are how the courageously curiousknow that really, I'm only as scaryas the silence fear festers in. Upon meeting someone new,we ask their names. We do not assign it to them. And with that name, we are given ancestry, bloodlines and dialects, books and poems, perspectives, wars, struggles,and survival stories. "What's your name?"is such a short distance to cross, but when you ask me, oh, buddy! I will take you from Kuala Lumpurto Barcelona to Beirut. We're going to go to Damascus,to Sydney, to Trinidad and Tobago. I will show you Mecca, my closet with 70-plusinternational scarves, the graves of my 31 family memberswho've been killed in Syria, the coffee shop that I hang out atand do my homework. 

But we must have the courageto claim our curiosity, to go beyond anything we ever knew,anything we ever feared. But it takes two: the elephant who offers the mint and the one who takes it. (Applause) (Cheers)

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It is okay not to have a plan | Mithila Palkar

It is okay not to have a plan, Mithila Palkar

It is okay not to have a plan | Mithila Palkar

Translator: Sm Masum: Peter van de Ven (Clapping) (Tapping) (Banging) (Singing) (Song: "Hi on the Cups") (Singing ends) (Applause) Some of you must have seen the video of this song online, and I'll tell you the story of how I made it. But before that,I have a question for all of you. How many of us over here have had celebrity crushes? (Murmuring) Almost all of us, right? And I'm sure some of us must have done something crazy to reach out to these crushes. This friend of mine, one day, decided to pack his bags and leave his home in Baroda and come to Mumbai to meet the love of his life. Ameesha Patel. (Laughter) Well, OK, so he decided to do that. And he knew that he wanted to meet her in a different capacity, not as a fan, because ... pride. And the easiest way to get in touch with her was to get into showbiz, and he did. Eventually, over the years, he realized that this was actually something that he liked doing, and he stuck to it. 

It's been 10 years now since he started acting, and Ameesha Patel now is ... (Laughter) history in his life. So, you know like they say, life happens to you when you're busy planning other things. This is a classic example of that. Things don't always work according to plan. So let me tell you something:it's OK to not have one. I did not have a plan. I had a passion, which I decided to pursue, and eventually, everything fell into place. You know, when I was five, my family used to encourage me to sing and dance in front of guests, at family gatherings. And I used to be shy at first, maybe even awkward, but I gave in to their requests. I realized that I was enjoying being the entertainer. But this is the same family that conditioned me to believe that the mantra to live a successful ideal life is you grow up, you graduate, and you find a "decent" job. 

This typical middle-class Marathi family of mine, as expected, was not very thrilled about my acting aspirations. Actually, back then, maybe even I wasn't very convinced about it, because I didn't have a role model to point out to and say, "Hey, if she can do it, I can too." Plus, I was comfortable with having a plan: you grow up, you graduate, and you find a "decent" job. Remember? So, while pursuing mass media in my graduate school, I happened to volunteer at a theatre company and got to be a part of a youth theatre festival, which I helped organize. I was happy because I got to be around the theatre world, and my family was happy because I was doing event management, which was real work. When I started working on this festival, that festival turned out to be a turning point in my life, because when I witnessed actors perform on stage, I realized that that's where I want to be. 

I realized I wanted to be the storyteller. I wanted to be the story, and I knew that if I did not pursue it, I was going to be extremely restless and unhappy. So I gave into my gut, and I decided to convince my family. But it took some courage and a lot of cajoling from my family to finally give in, hesitantly so, but they gave in. I thought it was not that bad a beginning. I had a bumpy start because I knew I wanted to be an actor, and that was that. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do films, or if I wanted to be part of television commercials or daily soaps, or if I wanted to stick to the theatre. So I decided that I'd figure it out as I go along, and I tried to do all the right things, like, I started looking for work, I started auditioning, made sure I was on the radar. You know, as Mumbaikars, we are trained to face rejection every single day, thanks to Rickshawalas. 

Because no matter where you want to go, you will have to go through at least three rejections before some kind soul comes along. Little did I know that these Rickshawalas are preparing me for the rejections will be facing in my life ahead. See, the thing with auditions is that no matter how good or bad you were at it, regardless of your performance, you should know that if an audition has to translate into an offer, that is not in your control. What is in your control is to give your best. And let me tell you, not a lot of those auditions actually translated into offers, but it turned out to be some fantastic learning experiences for me. It was not just for my skills, it was because I also learned to build resilience. So, I'm sure this is something that we all have experienced. Failure makes it very easy to give up, and if failure strikes multiple times, it becomes even easier. But I realized that I shouldn't give up, and I kept at it and I'm glad that I did, because, like with the Rickshawalas, you never know who will actually give into your plea of taking you to your destination. But just because six of them said "no" to you in a row doesn't mean you'll give up on going home, right? 

You will have to find an alternative. You will have to hustle. Nothing is going to come easy. Not having a plan actually turned out to be quite useful for me, because when I was in the middle of trying to figure out what to do, I chanced upon the internet. When I started with the Internet, which was about a year and a half ago, we'd all been used to watching comedy sketches online, but the concept of web series or web shows was pretty novel; not a lot of people had given into it, yet. I thought it was a pretty interesting idea, and I thought I'll make most of this opportunity. Over a period of time, I had built my network of friends and mentors, who have been and still continue to be my biggest support system. So they backed me up on this decision, and I decided to take the plunge. When I started my web journey with my first web show, which was a news satire comedy show on a YouTube channel still continue to work with it, I realized the power of the Internet. Because the show got a boost from all over the world; from different parts of the world people started writing to us. That cup song, that happened on a whim, too. I was just chilling, one fine afternoon at home, and I was playing the cups and singing different songs on it, and I decided to make a video. So I called my friend and said, "Can you come over?

I need somebody to hold the camera." She got her phone camera,and I'm sitting at my house, and we recorded this, and I uploaded this video with the "tring, tring" of the bicycle in the background - if you listen to it keenly, I don't know what all other noises you'll be able to hear. But I put that video up, anyway, and the attention that it got was unexpected. This something that I did without too much planning, just for fun, turned outto be a game-changer for me. It opened so many more avenues for me, gave me so many new opportunities that it makes me wonder what it would have been like had I spent the time to think and plan how to make a perfect video. You know, a lot of us are forced to make very important decisions very early in life, and we're not even sure what we want to do; I wasn't. And that is OK. The answer lies in experimenting and doing so fearlessly. Everyone does not have a chalked-out path. If you decide to be an actor, your journey and my journey is not necessarily going to be the same. 

You know, some prying uncles and aunties, or some family members or family friends had asked me this: "Your sister is a scientist; how come you chose to do this?" I mean, my elder sister, I do look up to her, and she does inspire me, but I didn't have to become a scientist to prove that. In fact, I don't thinkI've told her this, either, but there was a point in my life where I wanted to do everything that she did. So, she used to have long, silky straight hair; she still does. But when I was a little kid,I used to have really short hair. So I used to tie a dupatta around my head with a hairband, just to pretend to have hair like hers. I wanted to go to the same school as hers, the same college. Eventually, I realized that it was OKto not do what she was doing, and she was still going to be proud of me. Albert Einstein once said: "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb the tree, it's going to spend all its life believing that it's stupid." You might not be good at one thing, but you will be better at three others. I learned this the very hard way, but you cannot make everyone happy. What you can do, however, is make yourself happy, and that is very, very important. So be brave, have faith in yourself, figure out what makes you happy, and go do it. Get a job, leave a job, dance, sing, fall in love, carve your own niche. But most importantly: learn to embrace the randomness. Thank you. (Applause)

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What You Didn’t Know about Language Barriers, Roxanne Pomerantz TEDxBGU

What You Didn’t Know about Language Barriers, Roxanne Pomerantz 2020

What You Didn’t Know about Language Barriers, Roxanne Pomerantz 2020

Translator by Sm Masum : Alina SiluyanovaReviewer: Denise RQ How many of you can speak more than one language? Now, keep your hands up if you can speak more than two. And how about three? Very impressive! (Applause) But did you know that you actually could have easily learned 25 languages? It's true. 

This is a natural human phenomenon that any normal child born anywhere in the world is capable of learning any language that he or she is exposed to. And did you know that the languages that your child is exposed to before the age of 7, which is also known as the critical age period, are the only languages that he or she will be exposed to later in life? Leonard Bloomfield said that "acquisition of a language is doubtless the greatest intellectual feat that anyone of us is ever required to perform." So, I asked myself and some others in the overseas student program here: why do we learn languages? At first, we all learn language because we have to. As humans, we're designed to learn a language just like we're designed to walk. There is simply no preventing it. But then, there are some of us who actually do it for fun. We go through the struggle, we put in the effort, feeling wrong all the time, but we love it because the rewards are so great. It's awesome to speak another language, to carry it with you everywhere you go; to travel and communicate with people in their native language makes conversations so much more personal, and you actually get to enjoy more out of life because it gives you the opportunity to understand more music, and movies, and games from around the world. 

So I want to ask you another question, and I want you all to think about this: if we started taking advantage of the amazing ability that children have to learn languages and the plethora of free language learning tools we have in our devices today, could we, by reducing language barriers, reduce other barriers in society? Which begs me to ask another question: what exactly are language barriers and what do they do? I know what some of you are thinking: you're at the dinner table, and you're between your mother, who is Russian, and your beautiful American girlfriend, and you're having a moment of realization that you've just hired yourself out as a translator. So, you have to spend the whole evening hearing everything 3 times, and even though you thought that you could speak English and Russian perfectly, you're starting to feel confused and frustrated, and you're desperate for a couple of minutes of alone time just to think in whatever language you choose to think in. But there is a lot more to language barriers that I want you to know. Have you ever heard of linguistic relativity? 

Linguistic relativity is the field that asks questions on the relations between language, perception, and thought. The core theory is called the deterministic theory, it is scientifically proven, and it states that the language you speak shapes the way you think and influences your behavior. The fathers of linguistic relativity, Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir, state that if a word doesn't exist in your language, you won't know the concept [behind the word]. Now, I think that those guys can be a little extreme in their theories. I think rather than if a word doesn't exist in your language, you are a lot less likely to identify with that concept. One of my friends here, in Israel,a native German speaker, told me a story once of how the English language changed the way that she thought about love. She told me she still remembers the first time she heard the term "falling in love", and that she was shocked at the use of the language because she had never thought of being in love as something that happened suddenly and dramatically, and she pictured someone actually falling, and she could feel that, and then she knew that someday she will experience "falling" in love and not just "being" in love. Also, in body language, we find interesting differences among languages. In Hebrew, this means "waits". 

However, this is a great insult in Italy, and I wanted you all to know that. (Laughter) And the most obvious differences in languages that are influencing our thoughts and behaviors are in vocabulary. One scientific experiment linguistic relativity showed how gender association impacts people's perception. This study used the word "key", which is in German a masculine word, and in Spanish it's feminine. So, subjects were asked to come up with words to describe a key. And the German speakers used words such as "heavy", "durable", "strong", "useful", "metal", but the Spanish speakers chose words such as "golden", "lovely", "little", "delicate" and "shiny"to describe the same word -- "key". Another interesting difference finds among languages is in the perception of correctness. I read in the study by John Myhill at University of Haifa that correctness in present-day English and most European languages is based on prestige. So, the development of these languages has actually followed the trends of its most elite speakers. But other languages perceived correctness in a much different way. Languages such as Arabic, and Hebrew, and Icelandic are based on textual references. So, if a word appears in a text--in Arabic, which is based on the Koran, and Hebrew is based on The Mishneh Torah if a word or grammar appears in this text, it is correct, and if it doesn't, it is not correct. For these languages, there is no connection between correctness and prestige. And there are many, many words in languages that don't appear anywhere else such as "stam" in Hebrew, which can be translated into English as "just kidding", but not really -- it is a unique word to let someone know you're not being serious. And "khalomot Paz" is how you say "sweet dreams" in Hebrew, but actually translates directly as "golden dreams". 

And there is a word in German that I love called "Fernweh", which dictionaries translate as "itchy feet", and it is the opposite of "homesick". It describes the feeling that you need to travel. So, when my German friend taught me this word, I thought: "Wow! How I wish that this word existed in my language!" And I wondered that if we used such a word, how my experience of feeling like the only one in my family with a strong desire to see the world may have been different. So, a few weeks ago, after I auditioned to be up here on the TEDx stage, I reached out to my psychology professor back in New York and asked him what he thought about linguistic relativity. And what he says explains the story of my friend and, in terms of psychology and memory, what happened when she learned a new term about love. He said: "It is the breadth of our language, not our past experiences, which help color our lives. That is, in memory, the language labels that we assign events and experiences shape, indeed; limit the way that we can remember them." For example, if the only positive emotion word we knew was "happy", all positive memories are labeled as "happy memories". And if they all fitin that "happy" bucket together, then their shared features, which make them labeled as "happy", will be reinforced and at times amplified at the expense of their differences to allow for better access. This is because your mind categorizes everything with language labels so that it can reach for your memories as quickly as possible. 

And everything that you say and do, every decision you make, every conversation that you have, is just a consequence of some memories, right? So, in other words, your ability, overall, to access your memories is actually directly related to your breadth and knowledge of vocabulary. Because our languages are constantly changing, language barriers are just growing bigger and bigger. So, what do you think everyone? If we started to take advantage of children's amazing ability to learn languages and the plethora of free tools that we have to learn languages today, could we, by reducing language barriers, reduce other barriers in society? The answer to me is crystal clear. By emphasizing foreign language studying in your community, you are seizing an opportunity to reverse the creation of gaps in the way that we think and behave. There are so many issues in society today that are thought-based, like racism, and hate crimes, and bullying. So, by increasing the knowledge of the language, we can overcome these differences; also, by having more multilingual programs for children, of course, because it's that critical period before age 7, where we have this opportunity. So, one such program exists in Jaffacalled the Orchard of Abraham's Children. 

It was founded by a Palestinian man and a Jewish woman, who is married. And they've established 3 kindergartens that teach in both Arabic and Hebrew, and celebrate both cultures' holidays. So, programs, like this one, are using bilingual education to promote peace and co-existence in a humanitarian, non-political way. And it is so effective because our languages are a huge part of our identity. Being born to reform Jewish parents, gave me really early exposure to the Hebrew language, and if it wasn't that early, early exposure, I am sure I wouldn't be here, in Israel, studying linguistics, or giving this talk to you about the power of being able to identify with more than one language. Now, I want to leave you with this quote by Helen Keller, who was an American author,a political activist, and the first deaf-blind person ever to receive the Bachelor of Arts degree: "Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten -- a thrill of returning thought; and somehow, the mystery of language was revealed to me. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought." Thank you.

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LEARN ENGLISH | MUNIBA MAZARI - We all are Perfectly Imperfect

LEARN ENGLISH , MUNIBA MAZARI - We all are Perfectly Imperfect

LEARN ENGLISH | MUNIBA MAZARI - We all are Perfectly Imperfect

LEARN ENGLISH | MUNIBA MAZARI - We all are Perfectly Imperfect- 2020

Thank you so much for all the love, for allthe warm. Thank you all for accepting me. Thank you very much. Well, I always start my talk with some disclaimer. And that disclaimer is that I never claimedto be a motivational speaker. Yes, I do speak. But I feel like a storyteller. Because where ever I go I share a story with everyone. 

I believe in the power of words. Many people speak before they think. But I know the value of words. Words can make you, break you, they can healyour soul, they can damage you forever. So, I always try to use positive words inmy life. Wherever I go, they call it adversity, I callit opportunity. They call it a weakness, I call it strength. They call me to disable, I call myself differentlyable. They see my disability. They see my disability. I see my ability. There are some incidents that happened inyour life. And those incidents are so strong that theychange your DNA. Those incidents and accidents are so strongthat they break you physically. They deform your body but they transform yoursoul. Those incidents break you, deform you butthey mold you into the best version of you. 

And the same thing happened to me. And I am going to share what exactly happenedto me. I was 18 years old when I got married. I belong to a very conservative family, aBaloch family. My father wanted me to get married and allI said was if that makes you happy, I will say ‘YES’. and of course, it was nevera happy marriage. Just about after 2 years of getting married,about 9 years ago, I met a car accident. Somehow my husband fell asleep and the carfell into the ditch. He managed to jump out, saved himself. I am happy for him. But I stayed inside the car and I sustaina lot of injuries. My right arm was fractured, whist was fractured,shoulder bone and collarbone was fractured. And because of the rib cage injury, lungsand liver were badly injured. I couldn’t breathe. I lost urine control. That’s why I have to wear the bag whereever I go. 

But that injuries changed me and my life completely. As a person, my perception towards livingmy life was the spine injury. My backbone was completely crushed. And I got paralyzed for the rest of my life. So this accident took place in a far-flungarea of Balochistan where there was no first aid, no hospital, no ambulance. I was in the middle of nowhere. Many people came to rescue. They drag me out of the car. While they were dragging me out I got thecomplete transaction of my spinal cord. And now there was this debate going on, shouldwe keep it here, she is going to die, or where should we go. There was no ambulance. The was one four wheeler jeep standing inthe corner of the street. They said, put her in the back of the jeepand take her to the hospital which is 3 hours away from this place. And I still remember that bumpy ride. I was all broken. They threw me in the back of the jeep andthey rushed me to the hospital. That is where I realized that my half bodywas paralyzed and half body was fractured. I finally ended up in a hospital where I stayedfor two and a half months. 

I underwent multiple surgeries. Doctors have put a lot of titanium in my armsand there was a lot of titanium on my back to fix my back. That’s why, In Pakistan, people called methe ‘Iron Lady’ of Pakistan. Sometimes I wonder how easy it is for me todescribe all this all over again. And somebody has rightly said that when youshare your story and it doesn’t make you cry, that means you are healing. Those two and a half months, in the hospital,were droughtful. I will not make a story just to inspire you. I was on the verge of dis-pare. One day the doctor came to me, and he said,well I heard that you want to be an artist, but you ended up being a housewife. I have bad news for you. You won’t be able to paint again becauseyour wrist and arm are so deformed. You won’t be able to hold the pen again. And I stayed quiet. Next day, the doctor came to me and said,your spine injury is so bad you won’t be able to walk again. I took a deep breath. And I said it’s alright. Again, Next day the doctor came and said,because of your spine injury and your fixation that you have in your back, you won’t beable to give birth to a child again. That day, I was devastated. I still remember, I ask my mother, why me,and that is where I started to question my existence. Why am I even alive? What’s the point of living? I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t paint, fine. I cannot be a mother and we have this thingin our head being women that we are incomplete without. Having children, I am going to be an incompletewoman for the rest of my life. What’s the point? People are scared that they think I will getdivorced. What is going to happen to me? Why me? Why Am I alive? 

We all try to chase this tunnel. We all do this. Because we see lights at the end of the tunnelwhich keeps us going. My dear friends, in my situation, there wasa tunnel that I had to roll on but there was no light. And that is where I realized the words havethe power to heal the soul. My mother said to me that this two sell-pass. God has a greater plan for you. I don’t know what it is. But he surely has. And all in that distress and grief, mom’sthose words were so magical that they kept me going. I was trying to put my smile on my face allthe time hiding the pain. It was so hard to hide the pain which wasthere. But all I knew was that I will give up, mymother and brother will give up too. I cannot see them crying with me. So what kept me going was one day I askedmy brother, I know, I have a deformed hand but I am tired of looking at these white wallsin the hospital and wearing this white scraps. I am getting tired of this. I want to add more colors to my life. I want to do something. Bring me some colors, I want to paint. so the very first painting I made was on mydeathbed. It was not just an art piece or not just mypassion. It was my therapy. What an amazing therapy it was. without saying a single word, I could paintmy heart out. I could share my story. People used to come and say, ‘wow, whata lovely painting’. so much color, nobody sees the grief in it. Only I could. So that’s how I spend my two and a halfmonths in the hospital. Lying, never complaining or whining but painting. And then I was discharged. And I went back home. and I realized that I have developed a lotof pressure ulcers on my back, on my hipbone. I was unable to sit. There were a lot of infections all over mybody, a lot of allergies. So Doctor wanted me to lie down on the bedstraight. For not six months, for not 1 year, but fortwo years I was bedridden confined in that one room looking outside the window listeningto the birds chirping and thinking there will be a time when we will be going out with thefamily and enjoying the nature. That was the time, where I realized how luckypeople are but they don’t realize. That is the time where I realized, the dayI going to sit, I am going to share this pain to make them realize how blessed they areand they even don’t consider them lucky. 

There are always turning points in your life. There was a rebirthday that I celebrated. After two years and two and a half monthswhen I was able to sit in a wheelchair. That was the day where I had the rebirth. I was a completely different person. I still remember the day I sat on the wheelchairfirst time knowing that I am never going to live this, knowing that I am never going towalk for the rest of my life. I saw myself in the mirror. and I talked tomy self. And I still remember what I said. I cannot wait for a miracle to come and makeme walk. I cannot sit in the corner of the room crying,cripping and begging mercy because nobody has time. So, I have to accept my self, the way I am,the sooner the better. So, I applied the lip color for the firsttime. And I erased it. and I cried and I said whatam I doing. A person on a wheelchair should not do this. What will people say? Clean it up. Put it back again. This time I put it to myself. Because I want to feel perfect from within. And that day I decided I am going to a lifeof myself. I am not going to be that perfect person forsomeone. I am just going to take this moment and Iwill make it perfect for myself. And do you know, how we all begin? That day I decided, I am going to fight myfears. We all have fears. Fear of the unknown, fear of known. Fear of losing people. Fear of losing health, money. We want to excel in a career. We want to become famous. We want to get money. We are scared all the time. so I wrote down one by one, all those fears. And I decided I am going to overcome thosefears one at a time. You know what was my biggest fear. Divorce. I couldn’t stand this word. I was trying to cling on this person who didn’twant me anymore. But I said no, I have to make it work. 

But the day I decided that this is nothingbut my fear. I liberated myself by setting him free. And I made myself emotionally so strong thatthe day I got news that he is getting married, I sent him a text and said, ‘I am so happyfor you’ and wanna wish you all the best. And he knows that I pray for him today. My biggest fear number two was I won’t beable to be a mother again and that was quite devastating for me. But then I realize, there are so many childrenin the world, all they want is the acceptance. So there is no point of crying, just go andadopt one. That’s what I did. I gave my name to different organizations,different orphanages. I didn’t mention, I am on the wheelchair,dying to have a child. so I told then this is Muniba Mazari and shewants to adopt, boy-girl what so ever. But I want to adopt and I waited patiently. Two years later, I got this call from a verysmall city in Pakistan. They said, ‘Are you Muniba Mazari’. There is a baby boy. Would you like to adopt? And When I said ‘Yes’, I could literallyfeel the labor pain. Yes Yes, I am going to adopt him. I am coming to take him home. And when I reached there, the man was sittingthere and he was looking at me from head to toe. Don’t judge me, I am in a wheelchair. You know what he said, ‘I know you willbe the best mother of this child. You both will be lucky to have each other’. And that day, he was two days old and todayhe is six. You will be surprised to know the bigger fearthat I had in me. It was facing people. I used to hide from people. When I was in bed for two years and I usedto keep the doors closed. I used to pretend that I am not going to meetanyone. Tell them I am sleeping. You know why? Because I couldn’t stand that sympathy thatthey had for me. They used to treat me like a patient. When I used to smile, look at me and said,‘You are smiling, are you OK’. I was tired of this question being asked. Are you sick? 

Well, a lady at the airport asked me, ‘Areyou sick’. And I said, well, besides this spinal cordinjury, I am fine. I guess. Those were really cute questions. They never used to feel cute when I was onthe bed. so I used to hide from people knowing thatOh my god I am not going to see that sympathy on their eyes. It’s all right. Today, I am here speaking to all these amazingpeople. Because I have overcome the fear. You know when you ended up being in the wheelchair,what’s the most painful thing? That’s another fear. People on the wheelchair, who are differentlyable to have their hearts but they never share. I will share that with you. The lack of acceptance. People think that they will not be acceptedby the people because we and the world of perfect people are imperfects. So, I decided instead of starting an INGO,NGO for disabilities awareness which I know will not help anyone, I started to appearmore in public. I started to paint. I always wanted to. I have a lot of exhibitions for Pakistan,I have done a lot of modeling campaign, different campaign for brands like tony and guy. I have done some really funny breaking thebarriers kinds of modelings. There was this one by the name clown townwhere I became a clown because I know that clowns have a heart too. So, when you accept yourself, the way youare, the world recognizes you. It all starts from within. I became the national goodwill ambassadorof UN women, Pakistan. And now I speak for the rights of women andchildren. We talk about inclusion, diversity, genderequality which is a must. I was featured in BBC 100 women for 2015. One of the Forbes 30 under 30 for 2016. And it all didn’t happen alone. 

You all are thriving in your careers. You have bigger dreams and aspirations inlife. Always remember one thing, on the road tosuccess there is always ‘We’ not ‘Me’. Do not think that you alone can achieve things. No, there is always another person, who isstanding behind you, maybe not coming on the forefront, behind you, supporting you. Never lose that person. Never. No matter how much I say that I couldn’tfind a hero. so I became one. I still want to recognize those three peoplein my life who literally changed my life completely and I get inspiration from them every singleday. The women who believe in me even when I wascompletely on the verge of dis-pare where everybody left, she was there. And every time, I looked at her saying. She used to look at me and said, it’s toosell pass. God has a bigger plan. One day you will say that Oh my God, thatis why God has chosen me. She never cried in front of me. She always said that there will be haters,there will be naysayers, there will be disbelievers and there will be you to proving them wrong. My mother. Whatever I am today, I am nothing withouther. I am nothing without her. Thank you, mama, I wish you were here. 

Thank you for making me, who I am today. You know, what we human being have a problem. We always expect each from lives. We have this amazing fantasy about life. This is how things should work. This is my plan. It should go as per my plan. If that doesn’t happen, we give up. So my dear friends, let me tell you one thing. I never wanted to be in a wheelchair. Never thought of being in a wheelchair. I was always aspiring to do bigger things. and I had no idea, for that, I have to paythe price to be where I am today. It’s a very heavy price. This life is a test and a trial. Tests are trials. I never supposed to be easy and why you areexpecting each from lives. And life gives you the lemon. and you madethe lemonade. and then do not blame for life for that. Because you were expecting each from a trial. Trial make you a stronger better person. Life is a trial. 

Every time you realize that. It is OK to be scared. It is OK to cry. Everything is OK. but giving up is not bean option, should not be an option. They always say that failure is not an option. Failure should be an option. When you fail, you get up and then you fail,then you get up, that keeps you going. That’s how humans are strong. A failure is an option. It should be an option. but giving up is not. Never. We have these things in minds. We call it perfection. We want everything perfect. We want our self to be perfect. Perfect life, Perfect relationships, Perfectcareer, Perfect amount of money that we need to earn no matter what. Nothing is perfect in this world. We all are perfectly imperfect. And that is perfectly alright. That’s alright! You were sent here not to become perfect people. Those people who tell you how to look perfecteven those people are imperfect. Trying to fight this fear of looking imperfect. I used to be perfect. I still remember I got this complements, yearsago, when I used to walk. OMG, look at you, you are so fair, you aretall, you are perfect. Look at me now. Only the perfect eyes can see that. Only the perfect eyes will see that. Only the perfect eyes will see that. So, Yes. And all those imperfections you have to listento your hearts. You don’t have to look good for people. You don’t have to be perfect just becauseother people wanted you to be perfect. If your soul is perfect from within. That’s all right! This is all that you want. This is all that you need to be. Our society has made a very weird, very weirdkind of norms to look perfect in grade. For a man, it’s different. For a woman, it’s different. We think too much about what people say. We listen to ourselves too little. You know what makes you perfect. When you make someone smile. You know what makes you perfect when you tryto do something good for the people around you. You know what makes you perfect. when you feel someone’s pain. And how beautiful pain is that it connectswith people. 

No other medium can connect you other butpain. That’s why I always say I am in pain. That’s a blessing for me. Today, just because I am in pain and I amon the wheelchair, I work for children. Being the head of CSRF of company we conductmedical camps in far-flung areas of Pakistan where so many kids died because there theydon’t have medical facilities. And I personally believe that just becausethey cannot afford to live doesn’t mean that we will let them die. so we give them money, we give them medicaltreatment. We try to heal their wounds. Physical and emotional. And I also work for the beautiful people wecall them third gender. The transgender community of Pakistan. You know, what connects me with them. All my imperfections. When I go and hug them they never judge meand this very good friend of mine. Her name is Bijli. Bijli means electricity. She called herself electricity. And I said are you electricity. She says ‘no’. I am lighting. I am as strong as lightning. I am thunder. I am lightning. She came to me and the first time I hugged she said You are justlike me. And I said I am like you. Because to people, we are so imperfect. So how beautiful these imperfections are. Because of these imperfections, you can connectto people then why are we all running after being perfect. What’s the point? Every time I go in public. I smile. And People asked me, ‘Don’t you get tiredof smiling all the time’ What’s the secret. I always say one thing. I have stopped worrying about the things thatI have lost, people I have lost. Things and people who were meant to be withme are with me. And sometimes somebody’s absence makes youa better person. Cherish their absence. It always a blessing. I always say that people are so lucky thateven they don’t realize, you must be thinking. OK. You are lucky in that sense. Well, the breath you just took now was a blessing. Embraces it. There are so many people in the world whoare dreaming to live a life that you are living right now. 

You have no idea. Embraces each and every breath you are taking. Celebrate your life. Live it. Don’t die before your death. We all die. We live this one routine of the day for 75years and we call it life. No that’s not life. If you are still thinking about why you havebeen sent here. If you are still juggling with the conceptof why you are here, you haven’t lived yet. You work hard. You make money. You do it for yourself. That’s not life. You go out and seek for people who need yourhelp. You make their lives better. You add colors to their lives, you add valuesto their lives. You become that sponge which removes all negativity. You can become that person who can emit beautifulpositive vibes and when you realize that you have changed someone’s life. And Because of you, this person didn’t giveup. That is the day, when you live, Always. We were talking about gratitude. Why I smile all the time. I cry all night when nobody sees me. Because I am a human and I have to keep thebalance. And I smiled all day because I know that ifI smile I can make people smile, that keeps me going. Be grateful, what you have. And you will always always always ended upwith having more. But if you will cry, if you will crip forthe little things that you don’t have or the things you have lost. You will never ever have enough. Sometimes we are too busy thinking about thethings that we don’t have. Forget. Cherish the blessings that we have. I am not saying that I am not healthy thatmakes me unlucky. But Yes, it is hard. It is hard when I say I can’t walk. 

It’s hard when I say I have to wear that bag. It hurts. but I have to keep going. Because never giving up is the way to live. Always. So well, end my talk, on a very short note. Live your life fully. Accept the way you are. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to yourself. I will repeat, Be kind to yourself. and then only we can be kind to others. Love your self. Spread that love. Life will be hard. There will be turmoil, there will be trials. But that will only make you stronger. Never give up. The real happiness does not lie in money orsuccess or fame. I have all this and I have never wanted this. Real happiness lies in gratitude. So be grateful and be alive and live in everymoment. Thank you so much, everyone

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Learn English With Billie Eilish & Ellen

Learn English With Billie Eilish & Ellen

Learn English With Billie Eilish & Ellen

Learn English With Billie Eilish & Ellen 2020

success is overrated  I knew all these motivational guys, the gurus, they're gonna be salty. 

They say "Go! Go! Go! Hustle hard skip sleep, make money. That's cool! It has its place but all of that takes second priority to enjoying your life to loving the people around you 'cause let me tell you this. the death of all these celebrities the death of the people around me really got me thinking about how short life is and if you listen to these guys who say "Go, go, go", you're going to miss what's important. you're gonna find yourself climbing up a ladder and if you get to the top, that's if, you get to the top you're gonna realize dang... it was really against the wrong wall I promise you there are a lot of successful people in the graveyard right now. 

That would happily, I guarantee you, happily give anything to be Above-ground one more day so that they can tell their family, to tell their friends, that they love them. Just one more time. Because that's what's important as the old saying goes There has never been a deathbed regret. That went "Boy, I wish I'd spent more time in the office." Or "Boy, I wish I spent more time hustling". Or "Boy, I wish I spent more time making more money." It was Jack Kornfield who said "In the end <ONLY THREE THINGS REALLY MATTER> 1: How well we lived 2: How well we loved and 3:How well we learned...... to LET GO. He didn't say how well we we built our bank accounts. He didn't say how well we we built our mansions. He didn't say how well we built our social-media followings. You better wake up before his too late. I believe it was Shakespeare who said I've seen many unhappy kings But many happy shoemakers. 

Zig Ziglar said "Everybody knows that money won't make them happy But everybody wants to find out for themselves." So listen to me brother, I'm not saying don't be successful There's nothing wrong with financial success. But say I'm an entrepreneur myself. I like money In fact, I'm gonna tell you a secret. I don't think you can get too much money but if money gets you. That's too much If money becomes your god If you make a million dollars, but lose your friends, and your family, in the process, Is that success? If you make a billion dollars, but lose your health in the process, is that success? These guys talk about don't sleep what you mean "Don't sleep". What do you mean "Don't sleep?" Sleep is more important in your diet and exercise program combined. You can't think clearly if you don't sleep. It talking about I sleep when I'm dead. 

No, you'll be dead if you don't sleep. The Dalai Lama himself, he said "Man Sacrifices his health to build up his money. And then man sacrifices his money to rebuild his health." You ever felt bad for enjoying yourself? Like "Oh I should be doing this, I should be doing that." But you should be doing exactly what you're doing now, fully. Whether that's that's watching a movie. Whether that's, enjoying a night out with friends, you should be doing that fully. Don't let these guys, these gurus, guilt trip you out of enjoying your life, or taking care of you. Don't let your ambition become your prison Imagine you grind hard every day for years and you finally get the dream car you always wanted, but you don't have anybody in that passenger seat to ride with you. 

You're driving so fast, you don't even appreciate the breeze blowing through your hair. Your hand you better slow down. Slow down and enjoy this thing called life. Enjoy the moments. You only have a limited number of them. Stop always grinding. See when you're grinding, you're going to get something. You need to flow with life. Flow. Stop and smell the flowers and give other people the flowers while they, still smell them. Because in the end... only three things truly matter. How well we lived, how well we loved, and how well we learned to let go.

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ENGLISH SPEECH | SELENA GOMEZ: Trust Yourself Motivational Speak 2020

ENGLISH SPEECH | SELENA GOMEZ: Trust Yourself  Motivational Speak 2020

ENGLISH SPEECH | SELENA GOMEZ: Trust Yourself  Motivational Speak 2020

Hi, guys, how are you? 

So good to see you guys, so you guys having a good night? I have to say that it’s such an honor to be here, it is, I’m so happy to be here, I’m like a nerd and brought my own speech but I hope it’s OK that I take this opportunity to really just spend with you guys and tell you a little bit about my story. I’m not an activist, I haven’t changed the world or led a campaign, I’m here to just tell you my path, so that you hope fully can take something away from it, because I don’t like being honest with — this is a truth — I don’t like being honest with press and interviews, I like being honest with you, directly, which is each and every one of you. Because I feel like I can and I’m just going to start with the basics, 

so I’m 21 and my mom had, my mom had me when she was 16. And I’m from Grand Prairie, Texas, and she worked four jobs and completely dedicated her life into making mine better. So, to me, she is the definition of a strong woman. And I love her so much. Because she’s taught me those values so much. Thank you. I have been acting my entire life and I have known since I was first on Barney, you know that purple dinosaur, he’s great. You guys are so motivated, I feel like I can say anything! When I was eleven, the point being is that when I was seven I wanted to be an actress and I wanted to live my dream. And when I was eleven I had a casting director tell that I wasn’t strong enough to carry my own show. And I’m sure all of you have been told that you don’t have what it takes and you may not be good enough and you don’t have enough people supporting you and you’ve been told all of these things when deep down it’s all you want to do. You want to be a part of something great. You want to make something great. And it does more than not the wind out of you and crushes you when people try to tell you that you’re not good enough. And it almost did for me but there was my mom next to me stronger than ever and she said the most important thing is to always trust in myself. 

If I have, if I’m doing something because I love it, I should do it because I love it and I believe that I can do it. So she told me to keep going, thank you, she told me and she taught me to turn the other cheek and let the credits, the critics be critics, and let us just trust ourselves. So for me, thank you, two years later, I got my own show and the first thought, the first thought wasn’t oh man, that girl when I was eleven said that I wouldn’t carry my own show and I did, I mean, I thought about that for a little bit, but I thought about what my mom said. My mom is like you have to trust yourself and I realized that if I didn’t believe that I could do it, I wouldn’t be able to be here. And I have, I’m going to say I live a very blessed life, I have so much to be thankful for and a lot of you are big part of inspiring me because I don’t think you get it and maybe you’re not old enough, but you inspire me to be better and we should inspire each other to be better. 

I’m surrounded by people who are supposed to guide me and some of them have and others haven’t. They pressure me, there’s so much pressure,you’ve got to be sexy, you’ve got to be cute, you’ve got to be nice, you’ve got to be all these things! And I’m sure you can all relate, you all have pressure that you have to deal with every day. I’m sure at school, at work, with friends,with parents, with family, parents, I know, sometimes with mine, they tell me what to wear, how to look, what I should say, how I should be. Until recently, I had given in to that pressure. I lost sight of who I was. I listened to opinions of people and I tried to change who I am because I thought that others would accept me for it. And I realized I don’t know how to be anything but myself. And all I really want you to know is that you are changing the world, I’m not changing the world, you’re changing the world and that’s amazing! Please, please just be kind to each other and love and inspire people because let’s do it! 

Let’s do it, let’s change the game, let’s change the game! The most important thing is that we learn and we continue to learn from each other. Please stay true to yourself, please just remain who you are and know that we have each other’s back, all of us have each other’s back. I’d be lying if I said that I never tried to make myself better by giving in, because I have, but I’ve learned from my actions,and for all of the things I’ve done I’m proudest of that I’ve learnt from my mistakes. I want you to know what it’s like that I know what it’s like. Figuring out what types of friends you have,you are who you surround yourself with. So I just want to say I hope I can inspire each and every one of you to just trust in yourselves, to love and to be loved, and thank you for allowing me to come up and ramble and talk to you guys because this is such a beautiful thing you’re doing. Be proud of yourselves. This is great!

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