10/12/2024
Today I attended my first TEDx (Forbes Park)
I realized and learned so much from the experience. It was inspiring to see international speakers sharing their gifts to the Philippines.
Sobrang daming speakers actually. Around 22. Very overwhelming amount of information. It’s like drinking water through a fire hydrant. Hahah.
Some information was worthwhile for me. Others I didn’t like. It didn’t matter. I took notes. But some information resonated. Some didn’t. It’s okay.
Hindi naman lahat ng learnings dapat iapply.
One of the most monumental learnings though was from an Indian woman from Brisbane Australia, Shivani Gupta. She spoke for just a few minutes. But her sharing was really life changing.
She spoke about passion and how PASSION WITHOUT DISCIPLINE IS POINTLESS.
She started with a story about a kid she met while climbing a mountain. The child went to her and smiled. Having a language barrier this was the only thing they could do to communicate. In her backpack she had a bag of lollipops. She took one and gave it to the boy.
The way the boy’s eyes gleamed up with excitement. As if she had just given him a million dollars.
The level of PASSION he had for that lollipop was so immense that you could see the JOY and FULFILLMENT in his eyes. He immediately opened the wrapper. Put the candy inside his mouth and they sat there in silence.
A few minutes later, a little girl walked up to them and before she could grab another candy from her bag, the little boy bit the candy in half. He shared the other half to the little girl and kept the other half for himself.
Grabe. Iisa lang yung candy. And sobrang PASSIONATE nung bata doon. Pero binigay parin niya.
Kaya nga daw PASSION sabi ni Gupta. PASS-I-ON (to Others). Passions only are worthwhile when shared to other people.
How I wish I was at this level of passion as this little boy no.
Actually in life madami daw tayong passions. Passion about family. About career. About hobbies. Etc.
And here lies the problem. Too much passion can lead to disappointment.
In trying to do everything, we might not be able to create anything. Which is exactly what I do a lot in my life too. Shiny object syndrome. Kung anong bago and mukhang magandang gawin, ayun nadidistract. Not good.
Gupta shares 3 things that will help people avoid this. A.S.K.
#1 be AWARE.
Madaming passions. Pero need lang pumili ng tatlo to master. We need to embrace the art of saying no. Saying no to most, will allow us to focus our energy to those that matter the most.
#2 SET GOALS
In each of the passions you’ve decided to master, choose 10 goals each. That will take you to your next level as you aspire to accomplish each one of them. 10 x 3 = 30 goals. Grabe na yun. If dagdagan mo pa baliw ka na haha.
#3 KNOW that time is finite
Life is short. It’s too short to live other people’s passions for you.
The reality is, people around you will want things for you. She gives the example of her mother who wanted to set her up for a fixed marriage when she was still studying. During the time, passion ng mom niya yun para sa kanya.
Na ipakasal siya sa good family. Para maganda yung buhay na makuha niya.
This might have been her mom’s PASSION but it definitely was not hers.
She ended up marrying for love and not through a fixed marriage set up.
Pero can you imagine what if she followed her mom’s passion and not hers. She would have regretted that for the rest of her life.
So the point is, YOU DO YOU.
Passion without discipline is pointless. We need the discipline to say no to passions that will dilute our focus. And say no to passions that other people want for us but is not a true choice for ourselves. ❤️
Life’s too short to live other people’s passions and not yours.
So ayun lang. Ganda nung TEDx. Will definitely come back on the next one!
Hopefully next time, I could live my dream of being a TEDx speaker, too!
