Need inspiration? 11 TED Talks to make your life more exciting!

What about some inspiration and some fresh ideas about the world? One of my ways to get these things is watching from time to time a TED Talk. Maybe some of you heard about it and perhaps others did not.

Briefly, it is a website/phone application that provides short-length speeches of various persons around the world on a wide range of matters, from technology to researches or day to day life issues. Below, I would like to show you a list with some of my preferred TED Talks, in random order, and a short description of each of them (taken from their website):

1) Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace.

If you’re raised on dogma and hate, can you choose a different path? Zak Ebrahim was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His story is shocking, powerful and, ultimately, inspiring.

2) Making peace is a marathon

In Lebanon there is one gunshot a year that isn’t part of a scene of routine violence: The opening sound of the Beirut International Marathon. In a moving talk, marathon founder May El-Khalil explains why she believed a 26.2-mile running event could bring together a country divided for decades by politics and religion, even if for one day a year.

3) Dare to educate Afghan girls
Imagine a country where girls must sneak out to go to school, with deadly consequences if they get caught learning. This was Afghanistan under the Taliban, and traces of that danger remain today. 22-year-old Shabana Basij-Rasikh runs a school for girls in Afghanistan. She celebrates the power of a family's decision to believe in their daughters — and tells the story of one brave father who stood up to local threats. (Filmed at TEDxWomen)

4) Hackers: the Internet’s immune system
The beauty of hackers, says cybersecurity expert Keren Elazari, is that they force us to evolve and improve. Yes, some hackers are bad guys, but many are working to fight government corruption and advocate for our rights. By exposing vulnerabilities, they push the Internet to become stronger and healthier, wielding their power to create a better world.

5) The Museum of Four in the Morning
Beware: Rives has a contagious obsession with 4 a.m. At TED2007, the poet shared what was then a minor fixation with a time that kept popping up everywhere. After the talk, emails starting pouring in with an avalanche of hilarious references—from the cover of "Crochet Today!" magazine to the opening scene of "The Metamorphosis." A lyrical peek into his Museum of Four in the Morning, which overflows with treasures.

6) On being a woman and a diplomat
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy. Far from being a "soft" issue, she says, women's issues are often the very hardest ones, dealing directly with life and death. A frank and funny Q&A with Pat Mitchell from the Paley Center.

7) Global power shifts
Historian and diplomat Joseph Nye gives us the 30,000-foot view of the shifts in power between China and the US, and the global implications as economic, political and "soft" power shifts and moves around the globe.

8) The key to success? GritLeaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

9) The psychology of your future self"Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished." Dan Gilbert shares recent research on a phenomenon he calls the "end of history illusion," where we somehow imagine that the person we are right now is the person we'll be for the rest of time. Hint: that's not the case.

10) Your phone company is watching
What kind of data is your cell phone company collecting? Malte Spitz wasn’t too worried when he asked his operator in Germany to share information stored about him. Multiple unanswered requests and a lawsuit later, Spitz received 35,830 lines of code — a detailed, nearly minute-by-minute account of half a year of his life.

11) Everyday leadership
We have all changed someone’s life — usually without even realizing it. In this funny talk, Drew Dudley calls on all of us to celebrate leadership as the everyday act of improving each other’s lives.

You might also want to know that TED conferences are organized worldwide so you might have the chance for one to take place actually close to you. Check it out because it is worth taking part in it. I participated at one such event in Bucharest, Romania, about 2 -3 years ago and I really liked the atmosphere - dynamic and bringing in new ideas.

I believe that our preferences show in fact who we are and these stories outline some of my views, each in its own way. For example, they reflect my passion for international relations, my interest in education, my belief in the high value of personal leadership or the importance I give to reflection and understanding yourself. All in all, they are a way of saying “open your mind”, listen, learn from other people’s stories and then act!

What are your favorite TED Talks and what do you like about them? Sharing them in a comment would do perfectly!

A life story - in memoriam Alina Procopiescu

Perhaps you met Alina [Procopiescu], perhaps she has been one of your best friends, perhaps you only heard of her, and perhaps you have no idea who she is… Whatever the case might be, let me tell you a story about a life lived at its maximum, a person that tried to make this world better… a narrative about the life lessons that we are given unexpectedly.

She was one of my best friends, my room-mate in the dorms for almost two years, my group colleague in university, my hard-working partner in the projects we had to deliver… And now she is not here anymore.  She passed away in a tragic car accident on the 13^th of March 2014. I remember that night so clear, standing on the chair, in our room, scared about what might have happened and hearing the voice in the phone: “Alina is not anymore. She died.”… and then starring at her bed, incapable of processing the information… While now, after six months, I became accustomed to the idea in a way, I still find the event unbelievable. 

What did she leave behind? A lot… a lot… considering that she was not even 22 years old when the accident happened. She was committed to bringing change in the world, for her it wasn’t just an ideal scratched on paper; it was something she believed in. Alina thought that the best way to accomplish her mission was through the international youth-run organization AIESEC. She loved this community and she dedicated so much time to it! When she passed away, she had just finished her one-year experience in the Executive Board of AIESEC Bucharest and she had just been elected for a position of vice-president at the national level.  In the future, she dreamed of travelling to India. She was so ambitious and hard-working that I am sure she wouldn’t have stopped here… she would have gone really far! She was dedicated especially to the area of Outgoing Volunteering Exchange(GCDP) so, in case you will ever follow such a program of AIESEC, think of her! And, of course, Alina was also one of the best students in university and all the professors knew her. Who could not remember that long-haired girl that always sat in the first row, raising her hand constantly and trying eagerly to find answers to any problem.

I remember all the small things that made our relationship unique. We were in the same time very similar (ambitious, hard-working, energetic) but also different regarding the daily habits. She always strrrrronly disagreed with me waking up so early, like 8 a.m., because she always wanted to sleep as long as possible and me, with all my activities in the room, disturbed her sleep. Actually, a few days before she passed away, we had reached an agreement that I wouldn’t wake up earlier than 9 a.m.… I keep in mind the days and nights that we spent planning and doing our projects, carefully splitting our work using even spreadsheets (which she loved, by the way). She always left for me the introductions and conclusions, she did not like them. And I remember one of her favorite meals: salad!! I guess due to her I also got now this habit of eating salad as a meal itself almost every day. And there are so many more small things I remember about her, that I would probably write a book…

This article is a tribute to her memory, an attempt to pass on her legacy. Do everything you like, everything you are passionate about, now!! Set high goals for yourself and work hard achieving them! Always care about the people around you, help them, try to be an inspiration for them and as well get inspired by them. Believe in leadership and try to lead by example! I did not mention yet, but the cause of her accident was the fact that she had been hit by a car while passing the street in a forbidden place, not on the crosswalk, at 1 a.m., in a very central and busy area at night. So, take care about these things – we always think it is not going to happen to us, until one moment… She died happy! – Just a few hours before the accident happened, she had talked to her sister briefly, telling her how happy she was… Well, in the end, you cannot predict what is going to happen tomorrow; you cannot be sure 100% about anything, so live your life happily! Real life shows these are not just some random inspirational words.

This picture has been taken just a few days before she passed away (with her new haircut).

Alina was known and loved by incredibly many persons… At a moment when many of us were still grieving and in a day when she should have celebrated her 22^nd birthday, we launched lights (Ro: lampioane) in her memory. We have been there about 40 persons. I hope that these lights at least made her smile up there in the sky… Here you have a short video from our meeting.

Some days ago I watched a movie that made me question myself again about the way we live our lives, about the way I live my own life in the end… It was a beautiful story of a young surfer who dreamed to surf mavericks and who eventually work tried to achieve his dream. Unfortunately, a few years later, when he was only 22, he died in the Maldives while free diving. What remained into my mind about this person was his happiness, his passion, his determination and courage… I totally recommend you to see this movie (“Chasing Mavericks”). It has a very strong message and the story, through its beauty and tragic, quickly connected to my memories of Alina.

On the 6^th of September, her family will commemorate 6 months from the moment Alina passed away. Unfortunately, I will not be able to be there, since I am currently in Vienna, but I decided to write this article with the hope that one of the best things that we can do is to try to keep alive the memory of the ones that we loved... In the end, I want to leave here a citation that Alina loved and which, in the end, reflects her life…

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars!”