me start with social media and I know
you might be thinking what are social
media got to do with giving but bear
with me to the end social media has
become a vital part of our daily lives
there’s no denying that we look to
social media for motivation inspiration
even life lessons one of the most
popular trends are motivational quotes
or texts I brought a couple with me for
us to read together today check out this
one remember to take care of yourself
sometimes you get so busy taking care of
others that you forget that you are
important to sometimes use bright colors
to grab your attention so that one might
far-right falling in love with yourself
first doesn’t make you vain or selfish
it makes you indestructible this one in
a sort of red cell flow is asking
yourself what you need every day and
then making sure you receive it this
last one respect yourself enough to walk
away from anything that no longer serves
you grows you or makes you happy the
thing is that we’re usually presented
with these on singular basis so you read
one today the other tomorrow and yes
they spark motivation but when these
messages are brought together you start
to see the negative arrogant vibe of the
message they bring out and it’s not just
social media modern media as a whole
there is this constant glamorization of
self love in the media having an
attitude or arrogance is Percy
that’s cool like in the movie Mean Girls
criminals are tied to awesomeness like
in shows like breaking bad that line
between good and evil
it gets blurred there is this constant
diminishing of the idea of giving
specifically giving love kindness and
respect
we are constantly fed the message that
the selfless die in vain and that the
children’s stories that we used to hear
about the good and evil
they’re just fairy tales you don’t exist
in the modern world we are
subconsciously being educated that in
order to evolve into better stronger
indestructible individuals we have to
transcend into people who care only for
ourselves and regardless of other
people’s interests but is this the right
way
are we transcending the right way today
I’d like to narrate to you three stories
the first is the story of love it’s the
story of a mother who was living in
Great Britain she had just received her
child and from the arrival of that child
she vowed to give every ounce of effort
care and love to raise a well-informed
caring individual in this society she
sacrificed her PhD exam her night shifts
even the opportunity to travel to
further her career all that for that
child and in spite of the mockery of her
husband and other people she would spend
hundreds of pounds on children’s books
she’d get through the mail and she
constantly read to that child from an
age as young as six months old she saw
in that child’s eyes the hunger for
knowledge and she believed strongly in
the seed that she had sown the second
story is the story of kindness it is the
story of a young woman who had just
graduated from med school upon her
graduation her father who was well-off
decided to buy a private clinic for her
so she’d have her own business like most
doctors here in Egypt but that was an
offer she rejected she wanted to go into
public service she believed that the
human soul is weak and she didn’t want
to be lured away from the humane path
that she had chosen by money she wanted
to help those in pain but most of all to
help those in need the third story is a
story of respect it’s a story of a
freshman who sacrificed her just budding
career resigned from her job and decided
to stay at home and care for her mother
who was just diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer that mother was deemed inoperable
in Egypt they had to travel abroad for
surgery and finances seemed difficult at
first but then an insurance that they
weren’t aware of appeared out of the
blue and travelling was made possible
the mother all she wanted was to spend
more time with her daughter she felt
hard she fought bravely pancreatic
cancer patients are usually given a
maximum of two years survival that
mother she survived for two and a half
years I’m not sure if you noticed or not
but these stories they’re sort of
connected the young lady who graduated
from med school who chose public service
that’s her at my far right
she is the pancreatic patient in the
story of respect when she needed surgery
her public service earnings would have
never surfaced such a trip but
God lent a hand like she had done for so
many people in need before and that
daughter who sacrificed her budding
careers who care for her mother who had
cancer that daughter is the baby in the
story of love because when you sow the
seed of love and sacrifice you are bound
to reap that harvest of love and
sacrifice with the same amount and the
same love and sacrifice and you remember
how she used to read to that baby
well she developed a strong passion for
words writing especially and she would
found her own magazine and it wouldn’t
be just about advertisements and
sponsors and articles and so on but it
would be a platform so other young
talents would be able to expose their
work and build portfolios so they could
further the career in writing and the
creative industry that baby that
daughter that is me this is the story of
my mother I have had the honor to live
with a woman who set an example every
day by living a life of giving love
kindness and respect who proved to me
with every breath and every moment that
yes it is worth giving and yes what we
give to this world will come back to us
in the forum and at the time that we
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
in a world filled with meanness and
hatred and evil in a world where
disrespect wins cheers and votes we are
in desperate need of more love and more
giving and I know when we look around
and our country is going through some
through some really rough times but if
we look back we’ll realize that we’ve
passed through worse we have gone from
occupation to occupation we have passed
through droughts through famine and yet
we have survived we have survived with
what love kindness and respect we have
had for one another so how can we keep
that to ensure a better future how can
we make giving love kindness and respect
a norm let’s start with baby steps let
us promise one another today you and I
let us promise that the next time we’re
in a supermarket queue to notice the
person with less items and give them our
spots so that they can get some things
done faster let’s promise that the next
time we have rubbish in our hands let’s
not throw it on the sidewalk and blame
the government for not cleaning up after
us the next time you go into a store
notice who is there first instead of
lunging into the chaos and believing
that is going to get things done faster
let us promise to respect each other’s
lifestyle decisions whether she’s
wearing a veil or a mohawk or a boat or
he’s wearing a bow tie or has tattoos or
whether they are liberal or conservative
let us promise to respect one another’s
personal space let us make giving in
again let us transcend into givers
because remember
all the love kindness and respect that
you give away will find its way back to
you in the form and at the time that you
need it the most thank you [Applause]