1
00:00:19,177 --> 00:00:22,251
My story is different from most

2
00:00:22,594 --> 00:00:26,023
because I had to undergo
a bone marrow transplant

3
00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:28,543
when I was just six months old.

4
00:00:30,487 --> 00:00:33,687
And now, I have pulmonary fibrosis,

5
00:00:33,958 --> 00:00:36,462
which is a serious lung disease,

6
00:00:36,462 --> 00:00:40,462
and my lung capacity is only 20%.

7
00:00:41,105 --> 00:00:45,215
My name is Aisha Chaudhary,
and I'm 17 years old.

8
00:00:45,504 --> 00:00:51,672
And today, I'd like to talk about
what really matters most to me in life.

9
00:00:53,003 --> 00:00:55,021
Now, life can be tough

10
00:00:55,021 --> 00:00:59,239
when every single breath
you take is a struggle

11
00:00:59,729 --> 00:01:01,948
and the slightest infection

12
00:01:02,209 --> 00:01:06,544
can cause a serious,
life-threatening exacerbation.

13
00:01:07,007 --> 00:01:10,852
And the last one for me
was in November last year,

14
00:01:11,082 --> 00:01:16,443
when I went from being able
to walk around freely and go to school

15
00:01:16,879 --> 00:01:18,960
to suddenly being bedridden,

16
00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:24,000
unable to turn over in bed
without getting out of breath.

17
00:01:24,749 --> 00:01:30,449
And I must confess that I did wonder
if I was going to die.

18
00:01:31,533 --> 00:01:34,243
And I would have sleepless nights,

19
00:01:34,243 --> 00:01:37,605
just thinking, tossing, and turning

20
00:01:37,832 --> 00:01:42,418
with this idea that soon I may be gone.

21
00:01:43,701 --> 00:01:50,677
And if that's going to happen,
then what's the point of anything?

22
00:01:52,022 --> 00:01:57,463
But then, it suddenly struck me
that I'm not really alone in all of this.

23
00:01:58,064 --> 00:02:04,493
Is it not true that not just me
but all of us are going to die one day?

24
00:02:05,228 --> 00:02:08,858
Yes, all of us are going to die.

25
00:02:09,754 --> 00:02:13,307
I'd like you all to just
think about that for a moment.

26
00:02:13,967 --> 00:02:16,326
In the next hundred years,

27
00:02:16,326 --> 00:02:18,631
all of us sitting in this room today

28
00:02:19,115 --> 00:02:20,547
will be gone,

29
00:02:20,763 --> 00:02:22,888
just at different times -

30
00:02:23,215 --> 00:02:25,764
some sooner than the others.

31
00:02:26,505 --> 00:02:30,137
So then, if death is the ultimate truth,

32
00:02:30,624 --> 00:02:33,770
what should really matter most in life?

33
00:02:34,696 --> 00:02:40,276
I feel the only thing
that truly matters to me is being happy,

34
00:02:40,774 --> 00:02:44,095
and happiness is a choice one makes.

35
00:02:44,276 --> 00:02:46,492
It's simply an attitude.

36
00:02:47,377 --> 00:02:50,037
I can either choose to be happy

37
00:02:50,037 --> 00:02:53,535
and try to smile through
all of my difficult times,

38
00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:59,001
or I can choose to be miserable
and get overwhelmed by it all.

39
00:03:00,460 --> 00:03:04,605
Now it's not that by being miserable
I'm going to get any better.

40
00:03:05,034 --> 00:03:08,272
So I may as well choose
to try and be happy.

41
00:03:08,961 --> 00:03:11,948
And if I have to have pulmonary fibrosis,

42
00:03:12,235 --> 00:03:16,075
I choose to have
a happy pulmonary fibrosis.

43
00:03:17,731 --> 00:03:20,087
(Applause)

44
00:03:23,146 --> 00:03:28,742
Now, I'd like to share with you
a few difficult moments in the recent past

45
00:03:29,100 --> 00:03:31,204
where I've chosen to be happy.

46
00:03:33,496 --> 00:03:35,516
This year, I was quite unwell,

47
00:03:35,748 --> 00:03:39,364
and I had to undergo
several medical tests,

48
00:03:39,751 --> 00:03:43,087
and one such test was a sleep study

49
00:03:43,394 --> 00:03:47,661
done to check if my oxygen levels
were okay when I sleep.

50
00:03:48,734 --> 00:03:52,355
And this picture was taken
just before the study.

51
00:03:53,210 --> 00:03:57,358
And you can see that I'm almost trapped
in a bunch of wires,

52
00:03:57,358 --> 00:04:00,529
some stuck to my face and some to my body,

53
00:04:00,529 --> 00:04:04,233
to monitor my heart,
my brain and my breathing.

54
00:04:05,589 --> 00:04:09,246
Despite all of this, I'm still smiling

55
00:04:09,725 --> 00:04:14,306
because I refuse to let this illness
get the better of me.

56
00:04:14,806 --> 00:04:16,722
I just won't let it.

57
00:04:17,246 --> 00:04:23,200
And I chose to find humor in observing
the man who was doing my sleep study.

58
00:04:23,508 --> 00:04:25,173
I couldn't help but laugh

59
00:04:25,173 --> 00:04:28,727
at the way he would just put up
his own feet on my bed

60
00:04:29,169 --> 00:04:32,737
and go off to sleep himself, snoring away.

61
00:04:33,361 --> 00:04:37,564
And this, obviously,
made it difficult for me to sleep

62
00:04:37,673 --> 00:04:40,742
and maybe that's why
my results were so bad.

63
00:04:41,050 --> 00:04:42,546
(Laughter)

64
00:04:42,546 --> 00:04:45,631
"How ridiculous," I thought to myself.

65
00:04:47,345 --> 00:04:51,904
Later that month, my family and I
had to go to England

66
00:04:51,955 --> 00:04:54,026
for a full medical check-up,

67
00:04:54,530 --> 00:04:58,697
and the days were filled with long,
boring medical appointments,

68
00:04:59,014 --> 00:05:01,198
talking about lung transplant

69
00:05:01,433 --> 00:05:05,174
and what seemed
like endless amounts of tests.

70
00:05:06,807 --> 00:05:08,881
This is a picture of my brother and I

71
00:05:08,881 --> 00:05:13,387
just after I'd spent
one long day at the hospital.

72
00:05:13,868 --> 00:05:17,736
But guess where we
were headed in this photo.

73
00:05:18,443 --> 00:05:21,336
To see a Broadway show in London.

74
00:05:21,527 --> 00:05:23,349
And it was fabulous.

75
00:05:23,878 --> 00:05:28,463
I was able to put the trauma
of the day at the hospital behind me,

76
00:05:28,622 --> 00:05:33,534
and I still managed
to find the will and the excitement

77
00:05:33,693 --> 00:05:35,478
in going out for a play

78
00:05:35,644 --> 00:05:38,789
and spending quality time with my brother.

79
00:05:39,708 --> 00:05:44,383
I believe that it's important
to create many happy memories

80
00:05:44,586 --> 00:05:47,890
so that we can try
to wipe out the sad ones.

81
00:05:50,025 --> 00:05:55,357
After having quite an unpleasant summer
with all of these medical issues,

82
00:05:55,762 --> 00:06:00,139
we decided to take
a family holiday to the Maldives,

83
00:06:00,471 --> 00:06:03,687
and there was so much 
to do in the Maldives,

84
00:06:04,070 --> 00:06:07,295
but of course my health didn't permit me

85
00:06:07,295 --> 00:06:10,600
to do a lot of the things
that I wanted to.

86
00:06:11,774 --> 00:06:15,311
And one of the main activities
was snorkeling.

87
00:06:15,711 --> 00:06:18,445
And I desperately wanted to try it,

88
00:06:18,945 --> 00:06:23,923
but how could a person who has
difficulty breathing go snorkeling?

89
00:06:25,078 --> 00:06:28,536
Well, in this picture,
you can see me in my snorkeling gear

90
00:06:28,803 --> 00:06:31,580
right after I had popped
my head out of the water

91
00:06:31,580 --> 00:06:35,472
after seeing the most beautiful, 
vibrant colored fish.

92
00:06:36,096 --> 00:06:37,966
Now, I'm not going to lie.

93
00:06:38,057 --> 00:06:43,824
I did only dip my head in for a second,
but I did what I wanted to do.

94
00:06:44,073 --> 00:06:47,716
And that moment for me 
was worth everything,

95
00:06:47,942 --> 00:06:50,219
and I felt extreme happiness

96
00:06:50,468 --> 00:06:52,780
and was even surprised at myself

97
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,029
for doing something that everyone
wasn't sure was really possible.

98
00:06:59,505 --> 00:07:03,162
So happiness is clearly
a choice one can make.

99
00:07:03,339 --> 00:07:09,472
No matter what, no matter where,
you can find it if you look for it.

100
00:07:09,965 --> 00:07:12,086
In fact, Tom Wilson once said,

101
00:07:12,323 --> 00:07:16,546
"A smile is happiness you can find
right under your nose."

102
00:07:18,684 --> 00:07:23,645
I feel that happiness
is also doing what you truly love,

103
00:07:23,787 --> 00:07:26,779
and for me, my love is for art

104
00:07:26,864 --> 00:07:30,687
simply because it allows me
to express myself

105
00:07:30,755 --> 00:07:33,753
in such a beautiful and unique way.

106
00:07:34,248 --> 00:07:38,314
As I dip my brush 
in the vibrant colors of paint

107
00:07:38,466 --> 00:07:43,570
and can almost feel the paint being
smeared on to the fabric of the canvas,

108
00:07:44,507 --> 00:07:47,391
I tend to forget all of my worries

109
00:07:47,391 --> 00:07:51,225
and the difficult situation
that I'm really in.

110
00:07:52,550 --> 00:07:54,670
And art makes me happy

111
00:07:54,670 --> 00:07:57,556
because it almost becomes
a whole other world

112
00:07:58,154 --> 00:08:01,651
where I can escape,
at least for a little while.

113
00:08:01,937 --> 00:08:07,193
And these days, my most favorite
subject to paint is dogs.

114
00:08:07,793 --> 00:08:11,079
And now I'd like to introduce you 
to my own two dogs.

115
00:08:11,545 --> 00:08:15,506
Coby the labrador
and Rolo the black pug.

116
00:08:15,912 --> 00:08:19,683
You can see who the dominant one is
in the relationship.

117
00:08:20,739 --> 00:08:25,919
I find it so interesting
that even though they can't speak a word,

118
00:08:26,026 --> 00:08:30,073
dogs can become
the closest thing to your heart,

119
00:08:30,228 --> 00:08:33,426
your very best friend,
and your companion.

120
00:08:33,791 --> 00:08:37,482
I love to observe them
and try to figure them out.

121
00:08:37,674 --> 00:08:40,092
And I can't help but get inspired.

122
00:08:40,877 --> 00:08:43,970
Dogs are so similar to humans,

123
00:08:44,279 --> 00:08:49,763
yet they carry qualities that we humans
struggle to achieve at times.

124
00:08:50,102 --> 00:08:54,005
Dogs can find happiness
in the smallest of things.

125
00:08:54,244 --> 00:08:57,335
Dogs are delighted with a walk,

126
00:08:57,580 --> 00:09:00,230
ecstatic with a small treat

127
00:09:00,493 --> 00:09:03,509
and in heaven when you tickle their belly.

128
00:09:04,703 --> 00:09:07,542
Dogs truly mean the world to me.

129
00:09:07,932 --> 00:09:12,399
And now I'd like to share with you
a few paintings that I've done recently,

130
00:09:12,597 --> 00:09:14,973
which were inspired by these two guys.

131
00:09:17,063 --> 00:09:19,433
The first one is of Coby,

132
00:09:19,743 --> 00:09:23,378
and it's capturing a snapshot
of my everyday life.

133
00:09:23,668 --> 00:09:28,384
Just lying on my bed, watching movies,
just as I love to do.

134
00:09:30,650 --> 00:09:33,548
The next one

135
00:09:34,497 --> 00:09:38,726
is inspired by my gorgeous pug, Rolo,

136
00:09:39,124 --> 00:09:42,780
and the legendary rock band Guns N' Roses.

137
00:09:45,252 --> 00:09:51,669
Now, all of this doesn't mean that life
is always one big song and dance.

138
00:09:51,949 --> 00:09:53,607
It really isn't.

139
00:09:53,896 --> 00:09:58,713
Of course, there are days
when I feel extremely down,

140
00:09:59,161 --> 00:10:05,006
where I feel like simply curling up
into a ball and just giving up.

141
00:10:05,703 --> 00:10:11,959
But the realization that things
could always be much, much worse

142
00:10:12,327 --> 00:10:17,864
always pushes me to get back up on my feet
and put a smile on my face.

143
00:10:18,755 --> 00:10:20,563
I could have easily been born

144
00:10:20,563 --> 00:10:25,565
into a family that wasn't as loving
and caring as my own,

145
00:10:26,054 --> 00:10:29,442
so I thank God for the family that I have.

146
00:10:29,908 --> 00:10:33,371
And I know for a fact
that there are children out there

147
00:10:33,515 --> 00:10:37,357
who are much less fortunate than I am.

148
00:10:39,020 --> 00:10:41,525
And although I have this disease,

149
00:10:41,525 --> 00:10:45,640
I'm still glad that I can walk around

150
00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,998
and do what I love to do.

151
00:10:49,447 --> 00:10:52,243
So happiness is an attitude.

152
00:10:52,789 --> 00:10:55,955
Happiness is doing what you truly love,

153
00:10:56,379 --> 00:11:01,660
and I feel that happiness
can only come from acceptance.

154
00:11:01,907 --> 00:11:07,296
I accept who I am,
and I accept where I'm at,

155
00:11:07,715 --> 00:11:11,783
and I accept the challenges
that I'm battling with today.

156
00:11:12,447 --> 00:11:14,534
And I'm even more determined

157
00:11:14,623 --> 00:11:18,846
to make the most
of this wonderful gift of life

158
00:11:19,047 --> 00:11:20,769
that God has given me.

159
00:11:21,390 --> 00:11:23,225
Hans Anderson once said,

160
00:11:23,604 --> 00:11:25,165
"Enjoy life.

161
00:11:25,165 --> 00:11:28,281
There's plenty of time to be dead."

162
00:11:29,109 --> 00:11:33,340
So I hope that all of you
enjoy your lives

163
00:11:33,340 --> 00:11:36,819
with as much happiness
as you can possibly find.

164
00:11:37,134 --> 00:11:38,834
Thank you for listening.

165
00:11:38,834 --> 00:11:40,986
(Applause)