Smile, you are beautiful | Robby Borders | TEDxYouth@ParkCity

Robby has been impacted by bullying and suicide. His experiences have motivated him to display a positive message on a sign that he holds on the street for anyone passing by.

Robby is a graduate of Park City High School in Park City, Utah. He was born with ectrodactyly, a congenital disorder which left him with four fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot. He also lost his hearing due to the disorder.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

When I look into the mirror,

I see my 12-year-old self
with cuts, scars, and bruises,

but it wasn't who I am.

Every day, I was bullied
because of who I was.

I was born with this disorder
called ectrodactyly,

which gave me four fingers on each hand
and two toes on each foot.

All the hairs didn't grow
inside my ears correctly.

But the best thing about those things

is that I can just drive with Bluetooth
hooked up into my hearing aids,

just jamming out just for fun,

while I can just drive around
and do the Spock

and find that everyone -

they can just freak out and say,
"Whoa, this is cool."

Every time when I hear "suicide,"

people getting bullied, I never knew
what it really was until I felt it.

"Go kill yourself."

"You're not worth it."

"You're retarded."

It hurt so much
that it's been said to me.

Suicide is now the number one cause
for teenagers from 12 to 18.

It hurts everyone inside,
but they're not doing something.

When I went to a Young Life camp,
I wanted to meet new friends.

I wanted to have a better experience.

I wanted to enjoy life.

But that didn't really work out.

So every day I sat in the corner.

But this one day, it was special to me:

a guy with big bushy hair,
with a guitar in his hand.

showing the biggest smile to everyone.

He was in a group with tons of people,

and he says, "Give me a minute.
I'm going to talk to this kid."

So he did.

He'd come sit down with me.

He'd talk and say, "I've been bullied too.

I never had a lot of friends either
because of who I was."

We talked about it, and we had
the exact same comment of each other.

We didn't know who we really were.

He always told me something,

"No matter what happens,
you just need to smile.

You just need to smile
because you're beautiful."

Every day, he said that to me,
it made me think more.

About two years ago,
Devin committed suicide.

My heart was broken.
I didn't know what to do.

I didn't want to be here.

Devin really changed my life.

After I went to his funeral,

my mind started to think,
"I need to do something about this."

It keeps hurting me inside.

When I thought I can't do something,

it came to my head,
"Smile, you are beautiful."

And instantly I knew I can do that.

So for the past two years,
I was holding a sign that says,

"Smile, you're beautiful."

It didn't stop me from doing it
after tons of months.

People say, "You're an idiot.
Why are you doing this?

You're wasting your whole time.

You should go get a job,
do something fun with your life.

Just stand instead of sitting
on the side of the street,

just holding a sign that always says,
'Smile, you're beautiful.'"

One day, I was standing on the side
of the road holding the sign.

This guy comes up to me and says,

"I love your message.
My son did the exact same thing."

And he talked about how his son said
the exact same thing to other people,

"Smile, you're beautiful,"

to every single girl and guy
who was sitting alone

and didn't know what to do in life.

And he told me
that he committed suicide too.

And he said that was his message
from his son from above,

and he broke down as I did.

And it means so much that
I'm doing something to help other people.

I went to California to hold my sign

to show other people
that they are beautiful no matter what.

I went to Santa Monica, Long Beach,
even Warner Brothers Studios

just to hold a sign that says,
"Smile, you're beautiful."

Some people say it's crazy,
but for me, it's the best time of my life.

So I just want to remind to everyone -

"Smile, you are beautiful."

(Applause)