20、 Obama
B1 Intermediate US 28910 Folder Collection
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I've found the path to happiness.
Long time before I was born,
a fortune teller already knew it and wrote a very famous story about my life.
Even though he predicted a few things wrong.
He called the story "The Princess and the Pea".
You might have heard about it.
It is a story about a mother of a young prince
who wanted to find out if a girl was a real princess,
and therefore, might be a candidate to marry her son.
Therefore, she prepared a bed and piled up one mattress over the other.
Underneath the bed, she put a small pea.
The princess slept on top of all these mattresses.
And on the next morning, she said she had the worst night ever.
She couldn't sleep because something poked her the whole time.
The mother was relieved,
because only a real princess could have felt that small pea.
So, that is how the story had been told the last centuries.
Let me tell you how the story is supposed to be.
I guess, we are all clear about who I am in this story, right?
Yes, I am the princess.
I left my crown at home today, otherwise, it would have been too obvious.
As a princess of the 21st century, my life was perfect.
I successfully worked for a big company, I earned a lot, lived in a nice flat,
my closet was full of beautiful clothes and my car brand new.
I took fitness classes and spent my vacation on other continents.
You see, a very convenient life on many comfortable mattresses.
But there was something which poked me and kept me from feeling happy.
Do you know such a feeling that you are unhappy and don't know why?
I tried a lot to find that little something.
One mattress after the other, I checked on its effect on me.
As a young adult, I thought having a good career would make me happy.
So I gave my best at work and took a few steps on the career ladder.
After having a few positions, I gave up hope to find fulfillment in my job.
I was 25 then.
I started to look for happiness in my leisure time.
I tried different sports, voluntary work, signed up for language courses.
Now, I can introduce myself in Indian: Mera naam Jannike hai.
(Applause)
Thank you.
I read many guidebooks.
One of them said, "If you want to be happy, eat healthy."
So, I ate vegan and drank many smoothies.
(Laughter)
Another guidebook said,
"If you want to be happy, be grateful for the little things."
So, I kept a gratitude journal.
I went to a career counseling,
I took a media free time, I took a consumption free time,
I went on a pilgrimage.
But still...
When my father got cancer, the type of guidebooks I read changed.
Now, I read books about death
and about what people regret at the end of their life.
The actor Tom Hiddleston once said, "We all have two lives.
And the second one starts when we realize that we only have one."
Thank you.
(Applause)
So, I needed to do something, immediately.
But what? Should I change my profession?
Become a journalist? A photographer?
Or better, a carpenter? Should I study again?
Or should I work at all?
But how should I pay my gym then?
(Laughter)
What I knew was the answer to happiness I was longing for
waited for me somewhere out there.
And I knew that I was absolutely willing to find it.
So I sold my possessions, left my apartment, quit my gym contract,
saved money, took a three-year-long leave with my employer,
without knowing what to do.
Of course, I kept on reading guidebooks.
One day, I read about a girl who tried out different jobs.
That was it! I knew! I also would test jobs before I chose one for my future.
The plan was quickly made up: I wanted to test 30 jobs in one year;
a number where the likelihood to find my dream job seemed high to me.
I built up a blog, wrote a list of jobs I wanted to get to know
and I asked friends for recommendations.
I got a few internships offered.
Imagine if you had the choice to sample a few jobs, which one would you choose?
Let me ask you: who of you would like to experience a job of a police officer?
Hands up, please. OK.
Is someone here who would like to be an architect?
Oh, yes.
A wine grower?
(Laughter)
I did that.
Another question was still unsolved.
Where should I sleep? I had no flat anymore.
I decided to test the jobs in the whole country
and to use Couchsurfing to find 30 places to stay.
But the most important thing for me was all the people I would accompany
had to be passionate in their profession,
because I wouldn't find mine, if I accompany people like myself.
At this point, I didn't know that the thing I was looking for
would be much more important to me than just a passionate job.
One week before my project started, my father died.
I still had many fears and doubts in this time; I asked myself,
what if I feel homeless and alone?
What if I run out of money?
What if there is no such thing as a dream job?
What if...?
The telephone rang. It was Susana, my first host at Couchsurfing.
She wanted to know the time of my arrival.
And just like that, it was time for job number one.
I started my year as an educator for 1 to 3 year-olds.
I thought playing with children should be an easy thing to start with.
(Laughter)
Indeed, I had a great week, even though a child peed on me.
(Laughter)
And I needed to revise the picture I had of an educator.
It is hard work.
After that, I experienced professions such as teacher, farmer,
seller, and tourist guide.
However, in the second third of my project
I felt that my need for security and stability became bigger.
I thought about settling and the job as a career counselor.
But again, I felt that I curtailed myself from many opportunities,
giving in to the wish for security and stability.
I let go and decided to ask the readers of my blog for advice
and let them decide which job I would choose next.
Surprisingly, the majority of the votes went for a profession
I never thought I could do.
Pathologist.
(Laughter)
My first thought, "Oh, my god! No, I can't do it."
Is someone here who would like to be a pathologist?
Oh, a few. Why is that? Because it's well paid?
Even though I'm not really into blood and corpses,
I decided to pursue the job the readers selected for me.
And in retrospect, it was one of the best experiences I had.
To see all the organs and to see how amazingly human body works,
lead me to a healthy lifestyle, to appreciate what I've got.
By making this experience, I was able to free my mind again
and to see chances as chances again.
And this time, I learned to let go, to trust in me, and to trust in life.
For example, one Sunday night, I arrived at the place of a couchsurfer,
and he didn't show up.
I couldn't reach him and after waiting for over an hour,
I knocked on his neighbor's door
and asked for Internet to find another place to stay.
"You can stay here if you want," the neighbour said.
I had plenty of situations like this, and I had before,
but I had unlearned to see them.
In my last job, it was the 30th job, I accompanied a midwife.
On the last day of my last job,
we already celebrated the completion of my project with a barbecue.
A pregnant woman called.
And at two minutes to 11 pm,
we welcomed her little son on planet Earth,
a moment which I will never forget.
Even though the project was very exhausting,
it was the most enriching time of my life.
Not one of my fears and doubts I had before I started the journey
became reality.
Some of them even took care of themselves.
My gym, for example, I worried I couldn't pay for,
burnt down a few months later.
(Laughter)
At a certain point in my project, I stopped asking myself "What if?"
because I noticed that I know too little about the world
to make good decisions only by thinking.
Since then I just do it if it feels right.
And by trusting in life,
I got so many good things in return I never could have imagined.
I learned a lot about different kinds of jobs,
but much more, I learned about myself.
Now, I know what I like, what I'm good at, what is important to me.
And by taking away one mattress after the other,
I finally found what poked me all over the last years
and what didn't let me be happy even if I had it all.
Under the last mattress I expected a small pea,
but there was something much bigger: my intuition.
That intuition I always had looked down on.
And the same intuition which would never let me be happy if I further ignore it
no matter how successful I would have been or how much money I earned.
By feeling myself again, and by following my intuition,
I finally found the happiness I had looked for so many years.
Because my intuition knew before me that I'm worthy just as I am.
The life lesson I learned and I want to share with you today
is embrace your feelings.
It is a paradox to look for passion and happiness on the one hand,
and to dismiss feelings as weakness on the other hand.
You cannot find happiness
without allowing yourself to have feelings;
the popular ones and the unpopular ones.
Identify and embrace them.
Before I leave you today, I need to make a confession.
I lied to you. I'm not the princess.
I'm just a normal girl.
And to find your inner voice is not a luxury thing.
It is the [base] for everything,
because the way I treat myself, I treat others.
And when you go the bed tonight,
you might want to have a look under your mattress.
Believe me, it is worth it.
Thank you.
(Applause)
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B1 Intermediate US

【TEDx】What if the job market helped you to discover yourself? | Jannike Stöhr | TEDxVienna

28910 Folder Collection
ステンドＧ published on May 16, 2016    Nicole Lu translated    Kristi Yang reviewed

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