WHAT HE HAS LEARNED

Stefan Sagmeister - rockstar designer - shares "Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far". (I think the 13th, 15th, and 16th ones are my favorites.)

Helping other people helps me.
Having guts always works out for me.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Starting a charity is surprisingly easy.
Being not truthful works against me.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Assuming is stifling.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time, I get used to everything and start taking it for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Keeping a diary supports personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Worrying solves nothing.
Complaining is silly; either act or forget.
Actually doing the things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction.
Everybody thinks they are right.
Low expectations are a good strategy.
Whatever I want to explore professionally, it's best to try it out for myself first.
Everybody who is honest is interesting.

I'M NO LONGER TRYING TO BE "RIGHT"... I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time. 

THINGS I NOW KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENT

I have mixed feelings about the release of Barack Obama's birth certificate. But regardless, here are a few things I now know about the President of the United States of America that I didn't know before:

1) His birthday is on August 4, 1961
2) He is a junior - Barack Hussein Obama, II
3) His mother was 18 years old when she gave birth to him

COMMUNICATING

My heart is bursting with emotion. I just had my first verbal conversation with my 15-month-old daughter:

She woke up and I went into her room saying, "Good morning, sweet pie."

"Mama!" she exclaimed, and then promptly tossed her stuffed giraffe over the side of the crib and looked up at me with a grin. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh," I agreed, and put the toy back in the crib.

She raised both arms up high and asked, "Ow?" I picked her up. "Okay, you can get out." Then she pointed at the door and said, "Baba."

So we went into the kitchen and got a bottle of milk. She happily grabbed it with both hands and started to guzzle... and we settled in on the couch to watch Sesame Street - my baby girl in my lap, having just the morning she wanted.

I know because she told me so.

MY HANDS

A poem that I read to my daughter tonight; from a book we've had for almost a year, that I hadn't cracked open yet. It made me truly want this vision for her, for her hands - to toil with work that is good and honest and which makes her happy without harming others. And it made me want that for myself, as well.

May my hands be helping hands
For all that must be done,
That fetch and carry, lift and hold
And make the hard jobs fun.

May my hands be clever hands
In all I make and do
With bricks and blocks, with sand and clay,
With paper, paint and glue.

May my hands be gentle hands
And may I never dare
To poke and rod and hurt and harm
But touch with love and care.