TED TALKS VIDEO LESSON - 3 THINGS I LEARNED WHILE MY PLANE CRASHED - RIC ELIAS
TED
TALKS VIDEO LESSON – 3 THINGS I LEARNED WHILE MY PLANE CRASHED – RIC ELIAS
1. What adjective does Ric use to
describe his plane crash?
2. Have you ever had a scary
experience? If so, what was it?
3. What three things happened at
the same time during Ric’s experience?
4. What three unemotional words
did the pilot use?
5. What did the pilot mean?
6. What could Ric see in the
flight attendants eyes?
7. What three things did Ric learn
that day?
8. What does Ric mean by ‘I
collect bad wines’?
9. Do you focus on what’s
important in life?
10.List the five most important
things in your life that if you focused on would change the way you live?
11. Ric Elias experienced a
life-changing event. However it was a miracle because it led him to take a
closer look at his life. Have you had a life changing experience? If so please write about it in the comment’s
box I would love to hear about it. JJJ
Transcript
00:12Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine
an engine going clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary.
00:27Well,
I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D. I
was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants. So
I looked at them right away, and they said, "No problem. We
probably hit some birds." The pilot had already turned the plane
around, and we weren't that far. You
could see Manhattan. Two minutes later, three
things happened at the same time.
00:49The
pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River. That's
usually not the route.
00:55(Laughter)
00:57He
turns off the engines. Now, imagine being in a plane with no sound. And
then he says three words. The most unemotional three words I've
ever heard. He says, "Brace for impact." I
didn't have to talk to the flight attendant anymore.
01:14(Laughter)
01:17I
could see in her eyes, it was terror. Life
was over.
01:22Now
I want to share with you three things I learned about myself that day. I
learned that it all changes in an instant. We
have this bucket list, we have these things we want to do in life, and
I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to that I didn't, all
the fences I wanted to mend, all the experiences I wanted to have and I
never did. As I thought about that later on, I
came up with a saying, which is, "I collect bad wines." Because
if the wine is ready and the person is there, I'm opening it. I
no longer want to postpone anything in life. And
that urgency, that purpose, has really changed my life.
02:02The
second thing I learned that day -- and
this is as we clear the George Washington Bridge, which
was by not a lot --
02:09(Laughter)
02:10I thought about,
wow, I really feel one real regret. I've lived a good life. In my own humanity and mistakes,I've
tried to get better at everything I tried. But in my humanity, I also
allow my ego to get in. And I regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter with people that matter. And I thought about my
relationship with my wife, with my friends, with people. And after, as I reflected on
that, I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life. It's not perfect, but it's a
lot better. I've not had a fight with my wife in two years. It feels great. I no longer try to be right; I
choose to be happy.
02:53The
third thing I learned -- and this is as your mental clock starts
going, "15, 14, 13." You can see the water coming. I'm
saying, "Please blow up." I
don't want this thing to break in 20 pieces like
you've seen in those documentaries. And
as we're coming down, I had a sense of, wow, dying is not scary. It's
almost like we've been preparing for it our whole lives. But
it was very sad. I didn't want to go; I love my life. And
that sadness really framed in one thought, which
is, I only wish for one thing. I only wish I could see my kids grow up. About
a month later, I was at a performance by my daughter -- first-grader,
not much artistic talent --
03:39(Laughter)
03:40Yet!
03:41(Laughter)
03:43And
I'm bawling, I'm crying, like a little kid. And
it made all the sense in the world to me. I
realized at that point, by connecting those two dots, that
the only thing that matters in my life is
being a great dad. Above all, above all, the
only goal I have in life is to be a good dad.
04:06I
was given the gift of a miracle, of
not dying that day. I was given another gift, which
was to be able to see into the future and
come back and live differently. I
challenge you guys that are flying today, imagine
the same thing happens on your plane -- and
please don't -- but imagine, and how would you change?What
would you get done that you're waiting to get done because you
think you'll be here forever? How would you change your relationships and
the negative energy in them? And more than anything, are you being the
best parent you can?
04:40Thank
you.
04:41
