My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic
TEDx Talks
A dream to play snare drum 0:00
Sam is seventeen and has a disease called Progeria, which keeps his weight at about fifty pounds and includes tight skin, stunted growth, and heart disease. Only about 350 kids worldwide have it. A standard snare drum and harness weighed forty pounds, too heavy for him to carry in his high school marching band, so his family worked with an engineer to build a harness weighing just six pounds, letting him march and play at halftime. When asked on NPR the most important thing to know about him, he simply said he has a very happy life, and he shares his philosophy for reaching that in three parts.
Focus on what you can do 2:59
The first part is accepting what he cannot do, like running long distances or riding intense roller coasters, while focusing instead on what he can do, such as scouting, music, comic books, and his favorite Boston sports teams. Sometimes he adjusts his approach, as he did with the drum, to move something from the can't do list into the can do list. The second part is surrounding himself with high quality people, his supportive family and close friends in band, who see him for who he is inside and make music together that has nothing to do with Progeria.
Keep moving forward always 7:30
The third part is always having something to look forward to, whether a comic book release or a football game, which keeps him focused on a bright future rather than wasting energy feeling sorry for himself. When he was hospitalized last January, this outlook helped him get through it even on bad days, because being brave is never supposed to be easy. He closes by urging everyone to try this same philosophy, and adds one last piece of advice: never miss a party if you can help it.