Reviewer: Denise RQ. Before we jump in, I want
to ask you by a show of hands, how many of you believe
that world peace is possible? And how many of you believe
that world peace is possible simply by living a life you truly love? It's like I feel,
"I don't know about that." So, we often think of world peace
as this distant, far-off, lofty notion. Something we see
on holiday cards once a year. And I think that's one of the reasons
why we don't think it's practical, because, we haven't made it
an achievable goal in our real lives.
We think of it as something for the Nelson Mandelas
and the Mother Teresas of the world, but we don't think about how can I, by
following my passion, my heart's vision, live a life that makes sense
and that brings about world peace? So I want you to think back
when you were a little kid. Do you remember the question
that parents and adults always asked you? They get down on their knees
and they said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And you'll look up and say,
"a ballerina", or "a fire-fighter", or "a lead guitarist",
if you'd just seen your first concert. Or a doctor, or a lawyer. And every week it changed,
and every week it was exciting.
And you felt this enthusiasm
and this opportunity, that anything was possible. And then do you remember
when that question changed to "What are your plans?" "Where are you going to college? How are you going to make a living?" And that enthusiasm,
that excitement, that joy that you had as a little kid
for all the things that were possible turned into all the things
that you were supposed to want and have: the right job, the right salary,
the right house, the right car, the right husband,
the right wife; whatever it may be. When I was 16, I remember
hearing this question a lot, "What are your plans?" I thought to myself,
I looked around, I grew up in Atlanta, and there's a lot of people
waiting around in traffic to get to work. And I looked around and I said,
"Two or three hours in traffic, all this stress,
for the keeping up of the Joneses, to do the right thing, the right job seems like a lot of work.
Isn't there something more than that? Couldn't there be more than that? And I really believe that there could. So fast forward many years when I got to college,
and I had a choice point. On the one hand,
I could do what I was supposed to do. I could follow expectations,
I could follow this path, move to New York, work up the ladder,
get the right apartment, the right job.
Or I could choose to follow my heart
and do something completely different. The path was completely unclear, I didn't even know
what I was going to get into. I chose my heart. And it took me to rural China.
(Laughter) Which you probably didn't see
that coming. That a white girl from Atlanta
ends up in the rice fields. And so, I was the only
white girl in the town. There were literally
miles and miles of rice fields.
I was teaching, volunteer teaching
21 classes of 60 kids each. And often times,
I would go to my students' houses and stay with their familly
and get to know their families. And it would often require over an hour of walking
through the hills of Hunan, just to get and share
a meal with their family. And these kids, I just loved them.
Let me show you them - such enthusiasm, such excitement,
so curious about the outside world. And they had all these questions and all these ideas
about what life could be? I loved them, I absolutely loved them, and their joy,
their passion for the world. So, at the end of the year,
I gave an exam, an oral English exam. And it took me three weeks
to get through all my students.
And this girl came up in front of me.
I hadn't seen her before. I asked her the question I asked everyone: what did you learn
in oral English this year? She looked at me, and she said,
"At first, I think you are bad. Because you are from America,
and America makes war, and war is bad. But then, I see you are very friendly,
and friendly is good.
So now, I think China and America
can be friends." Happy people don't make war. If you are truly happy, if you are truly
following your heart's language - in Chinese they call call it (Chinese) "inside
of your heart's language," It literally translates
as the inside of your heart's language - if you're truly living a life you love,
you have more to give to other people. Your cup runneth over. You have more to give,
you have more to receive, you don't need to compete, you don't need to take
anything away from anyone else.
And so I believe that,
whether it's you moving to China, which probably,
many of you will not be doing, or following your own heart's language,
whatever that may be. My grandmother, who's been a huge mentor
and just love [in my life], she lived to be 100,
she ate ice-cream every single day, born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky,
never traveled to other countries, but she made a huge impact in our family,
and that had a ripple effect. So whether it's 5 people,
or it's 5 billion people, if you live a life you love,
if you are true to your heart's language-- I know that some of you may be thinking, "Well, that seems so easy,
to live a life you love. Sounds like something we see
on those greeting cards once a year." But I assure you, departing from all those expectations,
being true to your heart, will not only probably be
the hardest thing you've ever done but it will also be the most rewarding.
Because you'll meet people
you never expected to meet. You'll get a chance to fully live
your passion and your dream to see what is on the other side of that. And so I do believe in world peace. I believe that by each of us
living a life we love, being true to ourselves, we can better appreciate
ourselves and each other.
So, what is in your heart end my wait. Thank you. (Applause).
No comments:
Post a Comment