Transcriber: Tijana Mihajlović Reviewer: Manuel Corzo
Someone once told me
that the average human lifespan ranges up to about 28,000 days.
In my opinion, this seems like a horrifyingly short period of time.
So why would we waste even a single second of those 28,000 days
being anything other than happy?
The Oxford Dictionary defines happiness
as the state of being content or satisfied.
We all have different factors in our lives that determine our happiness.
But what I'm trying to ask here is: are all those determining factors
attained at what you perceive to be your optimum level of elation,
or do they simply find a way of intertwining themselves
into your journey of life?
Throughout my life, I've been brought up to believe
that I was destined to be a certain someone,
to achieve a certain goal, to do a certain thing.
Don't get me wrong.
I don't question that we were all put on this Earth for a certain reason,
but what I do question is how we live our lives.
What is happiness according to you?
What is happiness according to me?
Is it simply what our society perceives it to be,
or are we the one in a million that choose to stand alone
and simply do our own thing?
I'm going to take myself as an example.
You see, the number of times I've changed my career choices
probably exceeds the number of years I've been on this Earth.
This used to be something that conflicted my thoughts and life.
But then again, when I come to think about it,
we've all probably been through the same dilemma.
I wouldn't be surprised if just the other day you wanted to be a doctor,
and the next day you want to be a psychiatrist or an actor.
For all I know, that may be your path.
But you see, this so-called success that we all strive to as attaining
sometimes makes our minds so caught up
that we forget what the true purpose of life is all about.
Success is commonly referred to
as the accomplishment of a dream, of a goal and aspiration.
But I believe that success is grasping every opportunity,
seizing every moment,
and maximizing every single thing that life throws your way.
You see, when I see my life 10 or so years from now,
I believe I'm going to be a quite successful and happy individual.
You'd ask me how.
Well, I'm not even sure what I'm going to do in university yet.
I don't know what career path I want to undertake.
So I wouldn't be surprised if any of you asked me:
why do you think you'll be as successful as you will be?
Well, you see, my perception in success is what drives me.
Not that certain fame, not that certain wealth.
Society will always find a way
of trying to pave you into being a certain person.
But at the end of the day,
if that person doesn't make you truly happy,
have you ever thought about what the point of it all is?
I consider myself the kid by the window,
looking outside into the big, bad world,
wondering what there is to figure out, what there is to explore, to learn.
And that gruesome man right there is society,
telling me to come away from the window,
telling me not to be the child left behind.
How sure are you
that what society perceives to be the "child left behind"
is what's not the most successful out of all those children?
What I'm trying to say here
is I've been making a mistake for a very long period in my life.
I've been striving to attain all these dreams
that I believed were meant for me,
when, in fact, I was influenced by my society.
Ladies and gentlemen, today I would like to ask all of you
not to let anyone define your happiness,
not to let anyone be the judge of your fate,
not to let anyone decide your path.
Ladies and gentlemen, do not comfort yourself with the excuse
of putting your happiness on hold
in the claim of working towards something,
something you may not want,
something that may not be destined for you.
Ladies and gentlemen, today I would like to ask you
to simply be happy,
to intertwine happiness into your journey of life.
And I would like to leave you with this quote to think about:
"Be happy for this moment, because this moment is your life."
Thank you.
(Applause)