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Thank you all for coming,
and to everybody in Internet land:"Hi."
Yalla, OK, my topic, as Abdalhameed kindly said,
is about individuality, so let's start the talk.
Okay, [so help me God]
When God created us, he created us
in different sizes and different shapes.
We all have two eyes, two ears, a mouth and a nose.
But yet we all look so entirely different.
Now, my name is Ayat.
Which in Arabic means signs,
and I love looking for signs in different things.
It may just be a coincidence,
or maybe a sign to be intrigued by,
beats me!
But seriously, God didn't create us
as copy-paste clones of each other.
He could have chosen to make us all "Mr.Andersons."
But he didn't.
We are all different and unique.
Now, there is something negative that happens in our community
and sometimes around the world.
When someone thinks of a new ingenious idea,
instead of people being motivated to go
and try out something new to innovate,
they just take the idea and copy it right down to the last dot,
'bildubaanaat' as we say in Arabic.
Now, around two years ago, a bookshop opened in my neighborhood,
and I thought it was really good, and I thought it was efficient,
and it would -- like really, serve the community.
Less than two months later, around 4 bookshops
were on the same street.
And as we speak currently, 5 are being opened right now.
Now, there is excellence in every field.
There are people who are top basketball players.
there are top football players, there are world-class musicians
world renowned scientists.
There are mathematical geniuses, electronic innovators
there are politicians, there are leaders,
and there are peacemakers who go down in history.
There is excellence in all of this variety.
So here is a thought.
Instead of being a second-degree copy of someone else,
why don't we just achieve excellence
by just being ourselves.
Doing what we love.
Nobody is perfect, but yet there is something perfect about everybody.
(Applause)
When we look from the outside through a window into someone's life,
we're often captivated by all of that person's outstanding attributes.
But see, we only see one angle, we don't get to see
their life as a whole, they have struggles too.
That's why jealousy is such a worthless emotion,
it blinds us from all that is good within us.
(Applause)
When I was a little girl, my mom used to wash my hair
and when she'd be washing my hair, I'd say:
"Mama! How come my hair is curly?
Why can't my hair be straight?"
Now, she'd say something that still resonates in my mind until today.
She'd say: "Ayat, people with curly hair wish they had straight hair,
and people with straight hair, wish they had curly hair.
(Applause)
Dark-skinned people go and bleach to get whiter,
and white-skinned people go and get tans.
Nobody is satisfied,
but if you are consent with what you have, you'll own the world."
And I still remember this and I thank her until today.
(Applause)
Now, here is an interesting fact,
from the moment you are born till the moment you die,
even in the afterlife, the only person
that will always be there with you, is you! Yourself!
So be good friends with it.
Treat it as a good friend would treat you.
Be kind to it, be respecting, be loving, be nurturing,
always be forgiving, gently treat the slips,
but never forget to see the good.
(Applause)
People! The permission to be happy
and to live our lives to their maximum potentials,
even though sometimes, it may sometimes subconsciously feel like it,
isn't actually in the hands of other people but rather,
we grant it to ourselves.
Good things didn't get together, and conspire not to happen to you.
They can, and they will.
The best person you can be, is the best "You" you can be.
So, inhale all these good happy feelings,
and let them encircle through you endlessly.
Thank you.
(Applause)