My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

Translator: Visar Hadri Reviewer: Helena Bedalli Hello everyone. I am Sami and I just turned 17 years old. A few years ago, before my freshman year of high school, I wanted to play drums in the Foxboro High School march and that was a dream I had to make come true. But each drum and its belts weighed about 18kg each and I have a disease called progeria. To give you an idea, I only weigh 22 kg. So, logically, I couldn't hold a normal-sized drum, and so the band leader assigned me to play the xylophone during the show's intermission. Now, the xylophone part was fun.

It included several auxiliary instruments, such as the bongo, timbale, kettledrum and bell. It was fun, but he couldn't leave and I felt heartbroken. However, nothing would stop me from playing drums with the marching band at intermission of the show. So my family and I worked with an engineer to design a drum that would weigh less and be easier to transport. So, after a lot of hard work, we made a drum that weighs only about 3 kg. (Applause) I want to give you more information about Progerian. Only about 350 children suffer from it today worldwide. It is very rare and the effects of progeria include: tight skin, lack of weight gain, slow growth and heart disease.

Last year, my mother and her team of scientists published the first successful study on the treatment of progeria, and because of that, NPR interviewed me and John Hamilton asked me the question: "What is the most important thing for people to do?" know?" about you?" My response was simply that I have a very

happy

life

. (Applause) Although there are many difficulties in my

life

, most of which are created by progeria, I don't want people to feel sorry for me. No I think about these difficulties all the time and anyway, I can overcome most of them. So, I am here today to share with you my

philosophy

for a

happy

life.

For me there are three aspects of this

philosophy

. famous Ferris Bueller. The first aspect of my philosophy is that, ultimately, I accept what I can't do, because there are many things I can do. Sometimes people ask me questions like: "Isn't it difficult to live with progeria? " or "What daily challenges do you face because of progeria?" And I mean, even though I have progeria, most of my time is spent thinking about things that have nothing to do with progeria. Now, this doesn't mean that Ignore the negative aspects of these difficulties. When I can't do something like run a long distance or get on a scary train, I know what opportunities I'm missing.

But instead, I choose to focus on those activities that I can pursue through things I'm passionate about, like research, music, comics, or one of Boston's sports teams. Okay, so... (Laughs) However, sometimes I have to find a different way to do something by making adaptations, and I want to put these things in the "can do" category. Pretty much like what you saw with the drum. earlier. Here's a clip of me playing Spider-man with the Foxboro High School marching band at halftime a few years ago. (Video) ♫ Spider-Man Song ♫ (Applause) Thank you. Okay, okay, it was a lot of fun and I was able to fulfill my dream of playing drums in the marching band, the same way I think I can fulfill all the other dreams.

So I hope you realize your dreams with the same perspective. The other aspect of my philosophy is that I surround myself with people I love, high quality people. I am very lucky to have a wonderful family that has always supported me throughout my life. And I'm also lucky to have a close group of friends at school. We're a bit goofy now, mostly gang obsessed, but we enjoy each other's company and help each other when needed. We see each other for who we are inside. So here we are acting a bit silly. We are now in our third year of high school and can now lead the new gang members as a collective.

What I love about being in a band like this is that the music we make together is real, honest and takes the place of Progeria. So I don't have to worry when I feel really good making music. But even after making a documentary and appearing on television several times, I feel at my highest when I am with the people around me every day. They give me a positive influence in my life and I hope I can give them a positive influence as well. (Applause) Thank you. So all I want to say is that I hope you appreciate and love your family, love your friends, love yourselves, love your siblings and thank your counselors and your community, because they are really an important aspect of everyday life, They can have a very big positive impact.

The third aspect of philosophy is: keep moving forward. Here's a quote from a man you know, Walt Disney, and it's one of my favorite quotes. I always try to have something to look forward to. something that challenges me to enrich my life. It's not meant to be big. It can be anything from excitedly waiting for the new comic to come out, going on vacation with family or hanging out with friends, to going to the next high school football game. However, all of these things keep me focused and I know that I have a bright future ahead of me that can help me overcome any difficulties I may have.

Now, this mindset includes the mental attitude of anticipating the future. I try very hard not to spend energy feeling bad about myself, because when I do, I get stuck in a paradox where there is no room for happiness or any other emotion. Now, it's not that I ignore the situation when I feel bad. To some extent I accept it, I let it in, so I can accept it and do what I have to do to get over it. When I was younger I wanted to be an engineer. I wanted to be an inventor who would propel the world towards a better future.

Perhaps this was due to my love of Legos and the freedom of expression I felt when building with them. This desire also came from my family and my advisors, who always make me feel fulfilled and good about myself. Now my ambitions have changed a bit, I would like to study the field of biology, maybe cell biology, genetics, biochemistry or anything. This is a friend of mine who I hang out with, Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, and here we are at TEDMED last year, talking. I feel like whatever I choose to be, I believe I can change the world.

And as long as I try to change the world, I will be happy. About four years ago, HBO made a documentary about my family and I called "Life According to Sam." It was a pretty good experience. but it was also four years ago. And like anyone, my perspectives on many things have changed and hopefully developed, as has my career potential. However, some things remain the same. For example mentality and philosophy versus life. So I'd like to show you a clip of my younger self from the movie that I think expresses that philosophy. (Video) Now I know more about her from a genetic point of view.

So now it's less of an expression. It used to be something that stops me from doing those things, that makes other kids die, that makes everyone stressed, and now it's a protein that's abnormal, that weakens the structure of cells. So it took the burden off me because now I don't have to think about progeria as a being. Okay, pretty good, right? (Applause) Thank you. As you can see, I have thought this way for many years. But I had never had the opportunity to apply these aspects of philosophy in reality, until last January. I was very sick, I had a cold in my chest and I was in the hospital for four days and I was isolated from all the aspects of life that I felt made me, who I was, that somehow gave me an identity.

But knowing that it would get better and looking forward to the time when I would feel better again helped me keep going. And sometimes I had to be brave and it wasn't always easy. Sometimes I got weak, I had bad days, but I realized that being brave doesn't mean it's easy. And for me, I feel like that's the key to moving forward. First of all, I didn't waste energy feeling bad about myself. I surround myself with the people I want to be with and continue to look forward. So, with this philosophy, I hope that all of you, despite the difficulties, can have a happy life too.

Oh, just a second, one more piece of advice... (Laughs) If you can, never miss an evening. My school's graduation night is tomorrow and I'll be there. Thank you so much. (Applause)