3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Ric Elias

Translator: Jonas Tholstrup Christensen Reviewer: Mikael Fuhr

Forestil dig en stor eksplosion

Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft.

mens du stiger over 3,000 fod.

Forestil dig et fly fyldt med røg.

Imagine a plane full of smoke.

Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack.

Forestil dig en motor, der siger "clack, clack, clack",

"clack, clack, clack, clack"

It sounds scary.

Det lyder skræmmende.

Well, I had a unique seat that day.

Jeg havde et unikt sæde den dag. Jeg sad på 1D.

I was sitting in 1D.

Jeg var den eneste som kunne tale med flypersonalet.

I was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants.

Så jeg kiggede på dem med det samme,

So I looked at them right away,

og de sagde: "Ingen alarm. Vi har sikkert bare ramt et par fugle"

and they said, "No problem. We probably hit some birds."

Piloten havde allerede vendt flyet om,

The pilot had already turned the plane around,

og vi var ikke nået særlig langt.

and we weren't that far.

You could see Manhattan.

Man kunne stadig se Manhattan.

To minutter senere

Two minutes later,

three things happened at the same time.

skete tre ting på én gang.

Piloten retter flyet mod Hudson floden.

The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River.

Og det er altså ikke den sædvanlige rute.

That's usually not the route.

(Latter)

(Laughter)

He turns off the engines.

Han slukker for motorerne.

Now, imagine being in a plane with no sound.

Forestil dig et fly uden lyd.

And then he says three words.

Og så siger han tre ord --

de mest følelsesforladte tre ord jeg nogensinde har hørt.

The most unemotional three words I've ever heard.

"Forbered jer på nedslag" sagde han.

He says, "Brace for impact."

I didn't have to talk to the flight attendant anymore.

Det var ikke nødvendigt at tale med personalet længere.

(Latter)

(Laughter)

I could see in her eyes, it was terror.

Jeg kunne se det i hendes øjne,

det var frygt. Livet var slut.

Life was over.

Now I want to share with you three things I learned about myself that day.

Nu vil jeg dele de tre ting, jeg lærte den dag med jer.

I learned that it all changes in an instant.

Jeg lærte at alt kan ændre sig på et øjeblik.

We have this bucket list,

Vi har den her ønskeliste,

we have these things we want to do in life,

alle disse ting vi vil nå at gøre i vores liv,

og jeg tænkte på alle de mennesker jeg ville nå ud til, men ikke gjorde,

and I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to that I didn't,

alle de fejl jeg ville rette op på,

all the fences I wanted to mend,

all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did.

alle de oplevelser jeg ville have men aldrig fik.

Da jeg tænkte på det senere hen

As I thought about that later on,

I came up with a saying,

fandt jeg på et lille ordsprog,

which is, "I collect bad wines."

som lyder: "Jeg samler dårlige vine".

Because if the wine is ready and the person is there, I'm opening it.

For hvis vinen er klar og personen er der, så åbner jeg vinen.

I no longer want to postpone anything in life.

Jeg vil ikke længere udskyde noget i mit liv.

And that urgency, that purpose, has really changed my life.

Og den hast, det formål

har virkelig ændret mit liv.

The second thing I learned that day --

Den anden ting jeg lærte den dag --

and this is as we clear the George Washington Bridge,

og dette er, mens vi passerer George Washington Bridge,

which was by not a lot --

hvilket ikke er med nogen stor margin --

(Laughter)

Jeg tænkte på at, wow

I thought about, wow, I really feel one real regret.

der er alligevel én ting, jeg virkelig fortryder.

I've lived a good life.

Jeg har levet et godt liv.

In my own humanity and mistakes,

Gennem min egen menneskelighed og min fejl

I've tried to get better at everything I tried.

har jeg prøvet at blive bedre til alt jeg har prøvet.

Men i min menneskelighed

But in my humanity, I also allow my ego to get in.

har jeg også ladet mit ego slippe ind.

Og jeg fortrød den tid jeg havde spildt

And I regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter

på ting som ikke betød noget

with people that matter.

med mennesker som betød noget.

Og jeg tænkte på mit forhold tll min kone,

And I thought about my relationship with my wife,

with my friends, with people.

med mine venner, med folk.

Og bagefter, mens jeg reflekterede over det,

And after, as I reflected on that,

bestemte jeg mig for at eliminere negativ energi fra mit liv.

I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life.

It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.

Det er ikke perfekt, men det er meget bedre.

Jeg har ikke haft et skænderi med min kone i to år.

I've not had a fight with my wife in two years.

Det føles fantastisk.

It feels great.

Jeg prøver ikke længere på at få ret;

I no longer try to be right;

jeg vælger at være lykkelig.

I choose to be happy.

Den tredje ting jeg lærte --

The third thing I learned --

and this is as your mental clock starts going, "15, 14, 13."

og dette er mens ens mentale ur

begynder at tælle ned "15, 14, 13".

Man kan se vandet nærme sig.

You can see the water coming.

I'm saying, "Please blow up."

Jeg siger "Spræng i luften, tak"

I don't want this thing to break in 20 pieces

Jeg vil ikke have, at denne ting skal brække i 20 stykker

like you've seen in those documentaries.

som man ser i dokumentarerne.

And as we're coming down,

Og mens vi var på vej ned

I had a sense of, wow, dying is not scary.

havde jeg en følelse af at, wow,

det er ikke skræmmende at dø.

It's almost like we've been preparing for it our whole lives.

Det er næsten, som om vi har forberedt os på det hele livet.

But it was very sad.

Men det var meget trist.

I didn't want to go; I love my life.

Jeg ville ikke have, at det var slut; jeg elskede mit liv.

And that sadness really framed in one thought,

Og al den sorg

samlede sig virkelig i én tanke

which is, I only wish for one thing.

som er, at jeg ønsker mig kun én ting.

Jeg ønsker kun, at kunne se mine børn vokse op.

I only wish I could see my kids grow up.

About a month later, I was at a performance by my daughter --

Omkring en måned senere var jeg til en af min datters forestillinger --

første klasse, ikke meget kunstnerisk talent...

first-grader, not much artistic talent --

(Laughter)

... endnu.

Yet!

(Latter)

(Laughter)

Og jeg bryder sammen, jeg græder

And I'm bawling, I'm crying, like a little kid.

som et lille barn.

Og intet i verden gav mere mening end det for mig.

And it made all the sense in the world to me.

I realized at that point, by connecting those two dots,

På det tidspunkt gik det op for mig,

ved at forbinde de to punkter,

that the only thing that matters in my life

at den eneste ting, der betyder noget i mit liv

is being a great dad.

er at være en fantastisk far.

Over alt andet, alt andet,

Above all, above all,

the only goal I have in life is to be a good dad.

er det eneste mål, jeg har i livet

at være en god far.

I was given the gift of a miracle,

Jeg fik gaven i form af et mirakel,

ved ikke at dø den dag.

of not dying that day.

I was given another gift,

Jeg fik en anden gave,

which was to be able to see into the future

som var at kunne se ind i fremtiden

og komme tilbage

and come back

and live differently.

og leve anderledes.

Jeg udfordrer alle jer, der flyver i dag,

I challenge you guys that are flying today,

forestil jeg de samme ting sker på jeres fly --

imagine the same thing happens on your plane --

and please don't --

og så alligevel ikke --

but imagine, and how would you change?

men forestil jer det, og hvad ville du ændre?

What would you get done

Hvad ville du få gjort, som du ellers venter med at få gjort

that you're waiting to get done because you think you'll be here forever?

fordi du tror, du er her for evigt?

How would you change your relationships

Hvordan ville du ændre dine forhold

and the negative energy in them?

og den negative energi i dem?

And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can?

Og mere end alt andet, er du den bedste forælder, du kan være?

Mange tak.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)