It often seems to take something as huge as a plane crash to open our eyes to what’s really important. Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time.

In this inspiring talk he shares what he learned by his near-death experience:

1. “I learned that it all changes in an instant. We have this bucket list, we have these things we want to do in life, and I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to that I didn’t, all the fences I wanted to mend, all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did I no longer want to postpone anything in life. And that urgency, that purpose, has really changed my life.”
2. “I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life. I no longer try to be right; I choose to be happy.“
3. “I only wish I could see my kids grow up. I realized that the only thing that matters in my life is being a great dad”

Ric said, “I was given the gift of getting to see into the future and come back and live differently.”  – When you look back, at the end of your life, what will you see? And will you like what you see? How would you change?

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• Amy Purdy: Living beyond Limits
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• The Story of The Pencil