Day 1: Shining Eyes

Wish 1: Caring

I know you're busy. But take 3 minutes to read my blog, and 20 minutes to watch a presentation on video, and you will be transformed.

By the end of this, not only will you realize that you like classical music, you will also be compelled to say something nice to your loved ones.

This video has at least five valuable lessons. Lessons in music appreciation, contrasts, passion, presentation, the use of story, connecting with your audience, and connecting with your loved ones are in this one-third of an hour video. It will be worth your while during these holidays.

I'd like to start talking about the end of the video. Consider this resolution: "I will never say anything that couldn't stand as the last thing I ever say."

What does this mean? It simply means that anything I say could be the last thing someone else hears. How many times have we seen people on TV regret that they didn't even tell someone who is gone how much he/she was loved?

This is a lesson from a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. She criticized her baby brother for losing his shoes while they rode the train to a concentration camp. That was the last time she saw her brother. Her brother never survived.

Now that you know the ending of the video, you should still watch it. Like a story, this excellent presentation has a beginning, a middle and an end. Be part of this journey. See the whole video from beginning to end.

Benjamin Zander, the guest speaker, is the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His passion is to help people understand and love classical music. And he did a great job at this event. He got 1600 people to be moved by Chopin's Prelude in E-minor - some even to tears.

This is not the Gettysburg Address, or Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a Dream speech. But it is considered the one of the best, if not the best speeches of all time at the annual TEDx conference. (TEDx is a meeting of the brightest minds in technology, education and design.)



So what are shining eyes? Shining eyes are what you see when you have caught the interest and admiration of people. To an instructor like me, shining eyes are like applause.

Have you looked at your loved ones with shining eyes? Have you also said something that could stand as the last thing you would ever say?

My wish is caring. Caring enough to say things that could be remembered, and could make eyes shine.