Joy Will Find You — If You Let It | David Larbi | TED

0:04 If you're able to, please close your eyes.

0:10 Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

0:20 Relax your shoulders.

0:23 Unclench your jaw.

0:27 Take another deep breath in and another breath out.

0:37 You can open your eyes now.

0:40 My name is David.

0:41 I'm a poet and author.

0:43 I write about the things that bring me joy.

0:45 You'd be surprised just how often that means I pick up my pen and use my voice.

0:51 Whenever I have a truly bad day, frustrating as it may be,

0:55 it's a matter of time until my next smile.

0:58 Good things are coming to me.

1:01 That may sound glib.

1:02 It may sound naive.

1:03 Life is far more complicated than that.

1:06 I won’t argue with you.

1:07 I know that that's true.

1:08 No one makes it through their whole life intact.

1:11 If you talked to every pillow I've had in my life,

1:14 you would hear about plenty of tears.

1:17 If you stole my journal from my hotel room,

1:19 you would read about plenty of fears.

1:22 If I'd had the emotional literacy when I was younger,

1:25 you'd have heard me articulate pain.

1:28 I do all I can to avoid all of those states,

1:30 but I'm sure that I'll feel them again.

1:33 I'm saying all this with a smile on my face.

1:36 Not because I don't understand language.

1:39 I just know there's far more for my feelings in store.

1:41 I look on the bright side.

1:43 It's a habit.

1:44 Because even in the very worst of times

1:47 when it seems that I'll always feel down,

1:49 I've learned over time, in the darkest of skies,

1:52 there will come a break in the clouds.

1:55 I don't think that it's naive at all to look for joy in the everyday.

2:00 In fact, if I'm ever to be truly content, it seems to me to be the only way.

2:05 There is nothing too small to be happy about.

2:08 I mean, truly, nothing at all.

2:10 And because I take small joys most seriously, they stack up to be rather tall.

2:15 You see, if I saw "real" happiness as the big headline news events,

2:20 I'd have maybe one a month if I'm lucky.

2:23 And between them, what would I do then?

2:26 I think of the day that my sister was born, of the singular joy that day was.

2:31 Moments like that, the joy's beyond belief.

2:34 They’re so immense, they almost have to be one-offs.

2:37 Some things have to exist at that scale to be truly appreciated.

2:42 That doesn't mean my reserves of joy can't be regularly topped up and updated.

2:47 Because joy is not just a fanciful thing; it's a whimsical, powerful tool.

2:53 It's a thread of resilience woven into our lives.

2:56 When there are cracks in things, joy brings light through.

3:00 Even if my happiness isn't total.

3:03 Even when I don't think I deserve it.

3:06 Finding the small joys in every day is a practice that's always so worth it.

3:12 It's easier on some days than others.

3:14 It takes effort, that I won't deny, but I am deserving of my own best efforts.

3:20 Life is effort.

3:21 Why wouldn’t I try?

3:24 I spent far too long believing that joy was for someone more deserving than me.

3:28 I spent even longer believing contentment was ambition's worst enemy,

3:33 when in fact we matter because we exist.

3:36 We deserve joy by virtue of this.

3:39 And contentment means that any ambition

3:41 that follows is the healthiest kind that exists.

3:45 I'm capable of finding moments of joy.

3:47 There are plenty of opportunities.

3:50 And if I can find joy wherever I am, then where I am, joy shall be.

3:56 Next time your drink is the perfect

3:59 temperature or your fork holds the perfect bite.

4:02 Next time you put on your favorite socks or adjust so you’re sitting just right.

4:08 Next time you stumble across a great song that you haven’t heard in a while.

4:13 Next time you catch eyes with a stranger who offers a nod or a genuine smile.

4:19 When you stretch your body and relax it again.

4:23 When you take a deep breath and you sigh.

4:29 When you get to relax at the end of a long day.

4:32 When you turn your face up to the sky, remember,

4:36 life is made of the average days, and each one offers joy aplenty.

4:41 The smallest joys are the simplest to find.

4:44 And they add up more often than any.

4:47 I always pay attention when a small joy grabs me.

4:50 Some say easily pleased, I say frequently happy.

4:54 Because you deserve it.

4:56 Because I do too.

4:57 In our everyday, may joy always shine through.

5:01 Thank you.

5:02 (Applause)