Your Gift

I was attending a concert yesterday by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House, and I was sitting close enough to the stage to see all the players' faces. They were sitting in a U shape, where every side of the U had more than one row of players. The violinists were right in front of me and I began to watch everyone's motion. Just like any conductor, our conductor's body moved exactly with the music, you'd be able to know the tune just by following his motion. For the violinists, the ones who sat on the front rows of the three sides of the U looked very different from the rest. Their faces changed so drastically with the changes of the music. When they increased the volume they frowned, when it decreased, they smiled. With every note their facial expressions changed. The ones at the back rows just played their notes with zero expressions. Tells you so much about who gets to sit closer to the microphone.

Then came the soloist, who was beyond good. Never did he once look at us, or even his notes. He knew the whole concerto by heart, yes yes by heart. I don't mean he just memorized it, it was in his heart. His eyes were closed all the time, he just opened them for a second every now and then to look at the conductor. When he wasn't playing, he looked above, to nothing, to feel the music. He didn't move much, only his facial expressions were amazingly changing, but he sweated so much. Mental sweat, that is what it is.

This concert told me so much about people who choose to do what they love. Of course these people are so talented, but that is actually what it is. They are people who found what they're good at, the gift that they were born with, what they were born to love and they followed their dream of being one with that gift. The violinists felt their music run through them, it came out of their hearts and minds, they didn't just play it, you could feel it.

Why is Dr Magdy Yaacoub a special heart surgeon? Why is it that we watch Meryl Streep we believe every single word, every single move that she does and we totally forget that it's all acting? Why Was Steve Jobs able to "create" the best Tech brand in the world? Why did Naguib Mahfouz win a Noble Prize? Because those people realized their dream early in their lives and chose to follow it. They chose to do what they love no matter what. They decided to fight all the obstacles, to never give up. We all realize our dreams when we're young, we know what we love, what's our gift, what we're born to do, what we'd be happy doing. A few of us grow up following this dream, and they become one of those happy people, just like the soloist.

Many of us forget about our dream, or are forced to forget about, why? Maybe because it's too hard, maybe because we're busy living our lives, maybe because we are unable to get the education that will make that dream come true, maybe because we have to find a job to get married and have children. The reasons are endless, and some of them are very strong ones. But all I know is that no one should ever give up on their dream, because no one would find eternal happiness without doing what they love. Because if you follow your dream, you'll do what you do best, and you'll be the best at it. Only then, you'll be the most successful person you could ever be. So never give up.