[Music]
you ever worry about the future if you
could be younger again when things were
nearly as complicated and the future
wasn’t nearly as frightening would you
go back you see the automatic answer for
most people is yes and there’s a part of
me the timid part that says yes also
she’s saying stick to what you know do
what you do best and you’ll always
succeed if you try too many new things
you might fail and then what but then
there’s also another part of me
the more adventurous side that says no
I’m ready to try new things I’m ready to
do things that scare me and I’m ready to
go into the future with all of my heart
no matter what but you see even though
those two sides of me are so drastically
different the reality is that when I
walk outside every single day both of
them shapes all of my actions and for
that reason I’m not feuless you see the
wise Ralph Waldo Emerson once said to
always do what you’re afraid to do well
I disagree these if we take the word
fearless and break it up and do it’s two
parts you’ll get the same thing that a
dictionary definition will tell you
you’ll get the same thing that a quick
Google search will tell you it all comes
down to a singular definition and that
is without fear what I mean fears inside
of us for a reason right
you feel it I feel it what’s it there
for well it’s there to keep us from
doing the stupid things you know the
types of things that I’m talking about
and it’s there to keep you from making
bad decisions so that’s why to me being
fearless is actually just being reckless
and these days I’ve learned how to
distinguish between the two types of
fear the good type of fear
the one that’s keeping me from doing all
those dumb things and the bad type the
one that’s trying to hold me back from
trying all the new things that I want to
try but it wasn’t actually that long ago
when I was a timid freshman who used to
like to sit in the band room during
lunch and watch his friends play video
games for him it’s hard to try new types
of food in a restaurant for him heck it
was even hard for him to try new flavor
of ice cream and I’ve come a long way
since then because now I’m ready to go
into the future even though I’m scared
and I’m ready to do the things that
terrify me most but giving a TED talk
but how did I get from that timid
freshman to where I am today you see it
was actually both sides of me that
shaped me and one of the most pivotal
moments of my life just a couple years
back in the summer after my freshman
year I was going on for my family
vacation to visit relatives in Kenzie
and China population fifteen point five
million it’s the fourth largest city in
the country and it was like any other
vacation but I do remember that as we
were coming down in the plane I noticed
something strange
I saw a thick layer of fog I mean didn’t
bother me because I see fog occasionally
around here so I thought if I waited a
no more than two they didn’t clear right
but in the plane kept going down and it
hit the ground and that’s when it hit me
you see because that wasn’t fog that was
smog and it was smothering the city I
was lucky that I had my inhaler for my
anona asthma but the people around me
weren’t so fortunate I saw people
coughing I saw people wheezing I saw
people wearing masks just so that they
can breathe a little bit better and
seeing that smoke scared me it scared me
that the blue skies that I see outside
right now might actually become a rarity
in the future
it scared me that the carnivorous plants
that I grow home yeah I grow carnivorous
plants might actually die one day and it
scared me that the ridiculous types of
bottled air that you see being sold in
the Lorax might actually become a major
commodity one day but the fear that I
felt then was something slightly
different from what I normally felt you
see the timid side of me was so saying
no don’t do anything about it you hate
trying new things why would you do
anything about it but at the same time
when I thought about it a little bit
more it didn’t seem dangerous what was
the harm in trying something new so when
I got back from China I dove into
environmentalism through camps
internships nonprofit work I did
everything that I could to actually make
a difference and one of the things that
I did was help teach a summer camp
called nature way it was led by a local
nonprofit called the student
environmental education coalition but I
remember throughout the course of the
week I watched as my students I watched
as David Declan Madison
I watched they learned about
conservation biology marine sciences in
ecology I watch as they built
sustainable houses at a popsicle sticks
i watch to say built ecosystems
out of just plants and dirt and I
watched as one group even wrote a letter
to the Governor on a local environmental
justice issue and he responded it was
pretty cool but I what I actually
remember most at the end was after we’d
give them out superlatives I remember
them all hugging us one last time and I
remember that at the beginning of the
camp when I’d asked one of them what she
wanted to do when she grew up she had no
idea but at the end of the camp when I
asked that exact same question she told
me she wanted to be an environmental
engineering and that meant something to
me because I felt like I had actually
made a difference you see those kids
they finally gave me a reason to maybe
not fear as much and so from that plane
ride which led to nature wave which led
to now I’ve done everything that I could
to help protect the planet but like I
said at the beginning I mean if yours
inside was for a reason right well so
actually every single step of the way
the timid side of me helps helped me
it’s those situations where it’s just
days before an event and hardly any
planning has gone on that’s when you
start to think you know maybe just maybe
we should do something about it and
that’s exactly what I’ve done because I
was scared because it was keeping me
from making all those bad decisions I’ve
had to postpone events I’ve had to
cancel them all because I was afraid and
being scared also made me realize that
the planet is connected to all of us
it’s not just about me it’s not just
about you it’s about all of us caring
about the little things like just
flipping off the light switch and the
big things like enacting political
change and so through cleanups speaker
talks tutoring rather than sitting back
watching and being scared by the news
that I see every single day I decided to
do something about it but I am still
scared I’m scared for my future I’m
scared for their future and I’m scared
for a planet’s future I mean that’s why
I do what I do you see even though I’ve
come such a long way since that timid
freshman in the band room the only real
difference is that the adventurous side
of me has grown I’ve seen my fears as a
challenge to be overcome and I’ve used
my fears to make the change that I want
to see but how can you
use your fears to change the world today
you see the first step is to learn the
difference between two types of fear the
good type and the bad type sometimes
it’s gonna try to help you sometimes try
to gonna try to hurt you ask yourself
what’s the worst that can happen I mean
that’s why even though that timid little
voice in your head might never actually
leave it’s not about being fearless it’s
about knowing what it’s telling you
and then the second step is to try new
things I mean yeah saving the
environment is my mission but this is a
big world and there’s a lot of other
problems out there they’re just waiting
for you to find them and they’re waiting
for you to solve them and once you’ve
learned that difference once you’ve
started to try new things the third and
final step is to use your fear change
the way that you think about it
sometimes it might be that challenge so
be overcome either way it’s not your
enemy whether you’re teaching a summer
camp or taking a plane ride or doing
whatever else it is that you do I want
you to listen to it I want you to
harness it and I want you to overcome
I mean yeah the future is scary and none
of us have any idea what it holds and
sometimes I do really wish that I were a
freshman again sitting in the band room
watching his friends play video games
during lunch but then I realize that if
I am nothing in the world will change so
the next time life throws something new
at you and both those voices the timid
and the adventurous one are sitting on
your shoulders
shouting completely off semesters at you
at the exact same time what will you do
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
you
you ever worry about the future if you
could be younger again when things were
nearly as complicated and the future
wasn’t nearly as frightening would you
go back you see the automatic answer for
most people is yes and there’s a part of
me the timid part that says yes also
she’s saying stick to what you know do
what you do best and you’ll always
succeed if you try too many new things
you might fail and then what but then
there’s also another part of me
the more adventurous side that says no
I’m ready to try new things I’m ready to
do things that scare me and I’m ready to
go into the future with all of my heart
no matter what but you see even though
those two sides of me are so drastically
different the reality is that when I
walk outside every single day both of
them shapes all of my actions and for
that reason I’m not feuless you see the
wise Ralph Waldo Emerson once said to
always do what you’re afraid to do well
I disagree these if we take the word
fearless and break it up and do it’s two
parts you’ll get the same thing that a
dictionary definition will tell you
you’ll get the same thing that a quick
Google search will tell you it all comes
down to a singular definition and that
is without fear what I mean fears inside
of us for a reason right
you feel it I feel it what’s it there
for well it’s there to keep us from
doing the stupid things you know the
types of things that I’m talking about
and it’s there to keep you from making
bad decisions so that’s why to me being
fearless is actually just being reckless
and these days I’ve learned how to
distinguish between the two types of
fear the good type of fear
the one that’s keeping me from doing all
those dumb things and the bad type the
one that’s trying to hold me back from
trying all the new things that I want to
try but it wasn’t actually that long ago
when I was a timid freshman who used to
like to sit in the band room during
lunch and watch his friends play video
games for him it’s hard to try new types
of food in a restaurant for him heck it
was even hard for him to try new flavor
of ice cream and I’ve come a long way
since then because now I’m ready to go
into the future even though I’m scared
and I’m ready to do the things that
terrify me most but giving a TED talk
but how did I get from that timid
freshman to where I am today you see it
was actually both sides of me that
shaped me and one of the most pivotal
moments of my life just a couple years
back in the summer after my freshman
year I was going on for my family
vacation to visit relatives in Kenzie
and China population fifteen point five
million it’s the fourth largest city in
the country and it was like any other
vacation but I do remember that as we
were coming down in the plane I noticed
something strange
I saw a thick layer of fog I mean didn’t
bother me because I see fog occasionally
around here so I thought if I waited a
no more than two they didn’t clear right
but in the plane kept going down and it
hit the ground and that’s when it hit me
you see because that wasn’t fog that was
smog and it was smothering the city I
was lucky that I had my inhaler for my
anona asthma but the people around me
weren’t so fortunate I saw people
coughing I saw people wheezing I saw
people wearing masks just so that they
can breathe a little bit better and
seeing that smoke scared me it scared me
that the blue skies that I see outside
right now might actually become a rarity
in the future
it scared me that the carnivorous plants
that I grow home yeah I grow carnivorous
plants might actually die one day and it
scared me that the ridiculous types of
bottled air that you see being sold in
the Lorax might actually become a major
commodity one day but the fear that I
felt then was something slightly
different from what I normally felt you
see the timid side of me was so saying
no don’t do anything about it you hate
trying new things why would you do
anything about it but at the same time
when I thought about it a little bit
more it didn’t seem dangerous what was
the harm in trying something new so when
I got back from China I dove into
environmentalism through camps
internships nonprofit work I did
everything that I could to actually make
a difference and one of the things that
I did was help teach a summer camp
called nature way it was led by a local
nonprofit called the student
environmental education coalition but I
remember throughout the course of the
week I watched as my students I watched
as David Declan Madison
I watched they learned about
conservation biology marine sciences in
ecology I watch as they built
sustainable houses at a popsicle sticks
i watch to say built ecosystems
out of just plants and dirt and I
watched as one group even wrote a letter
to the Governor on a local environmental
justice issue and he responded it was
pretty cool but I what I actually
remember most at the end was after we’d
give them out superlatives I remember
them all hugging us one last time and I
remember that at the beginning of the
camp when I’d asked one of them what she
wanted to do when she grew up she had no
idea but at the end of the camp when I
asked that exact same question she told
me she wanted to be an environmental
engineering and that meant something to
me because I felt like I had actually
made a difference you see those kids
they finally gave me a reason to maybe
not fear as much and so from that plane
ride which led to nature wave which led
to now I’ve done everything that I could
to help protect the planet but like I
said at the beginning I mean if yours
inside was for a reason right well so
actually every single step of the way
the timid side of me helps helped me
it’s those situations where it’s just
days before an event and hardly any
planning has gone on that’s when you
start to think you know maybe just maybe
we should do something about it and
that’s exactly what I’ve done because I
was scared because it was keeping me
from making all those bad decisions I’ve
had to postpone events I’ve had to
cancel them all because I was afraid and
being scared also made me realize that
the planet is connected to all of us
it’s not just about me it’s not just
about you it’s about all of us caring
about the little things like just
flipping off the light switch and the
big things like enacting political
change and so through cleanups speaker
talks tutoring rather than sitting back
watching and being scared by the news
that I see every single day I decided to
do something about it but I am still
scared I’m scared for my future I’m
scared for their future and I’m scared
for a planet’s future I mean that’s why
I do what I do you see even though I’ve
come such a long way since that timid
freshman in the band room the only real
difference is that the adventurous side
of me has grown I’ve seen my fears as a
challenge to be overcome and I’ve used
my fears to make the change that I want
to see but how can you
use your fears to change the world today
you see the first step is to learn the
difference between two types of fear the
good type and the bad type sometimes
it’s gonna try to help you sometimes try
to gonna try to hurt you ask yourself
what’s the worst that can happen I mean
that’s why even though that timid little
voice in your head might never actually
leave it’s not about being fearless it’s
about knowing what it’s telling you
and then the second step is to try new
things I mean yeah saving the
environment is my mission but this is a
big world and there’s a lot of other
problems out there they’re just waiting
for you to find them and they’re waiting
for you to solve them and once you’ve
learned that difference once you’ve
started to try new things the third and
final step is to use your fear change
the way that you think about it
sometimes it might be that challenge so
be overcome either way it’s not your
enemy whether you’re teaching a summer
camp or taking a plane ride or doing
whatever else it is that you do I want
you to listen to it I want you to
harness it and I want you to overcome
I mean yeah the future is scary and none
of us have any idea what it holds and
sometimes I do really wish that I were a
freshman again sitting in the band room
watching his friends play video games
during lunch but then I realize that if
I am nothing in the world will change so
the next time life throws something new
at you and both those voices the timid
and the adventurous one are sitting on
your shoulders
shouting completely off semesters at you
at the exact same time what will you do
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
you
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