When I was 14 years old, I had low self-esteem. I felt I was not talented at anything.
S 14 godina imao sam malo samopouzdanja. Mislio sam da nemam nikakvih talenata.
One day, I bought a yo-yo. When I tried my first trick, it looked like this:
Jednog dana kupio sam yo-yo. Kad sam pokušao izvesti prvi trik, izgledao je ovako.
(Laughter)
Nisam mogao izvesti ni najjednostavniji trik,
I couldn't even do the simplest trick, but it was very natural for me, because I was not dextrous, and hated all sports. But after one week of practicing, my throws became more like this: A bit better. I thought, the yo-yo is something for me to be good at. For the first time in my life, I found my passion. I was spending all my time practicing. It took me hours and hours a day to build my skills up to the next level.
ali to je bilo normalno za mene zato što nisam bio vješt s rukama i mrzio sam sve sportove. Ali nakon tjedan dana vježbanja, moja bacanja počela su izgledati ovako. Malo bolje. Pomislio sam kako je yo-yo nešto u čemu mogu biti dobar po prvi put u životu. Pronašao sam svoju strast. Svo svoje vrijeme provodio sam vježbajući. Trebalo mi je po nekoliko sati dnevno da dovedem svoje vještine do sljedeće razine.
And then, four years later, when I was 18 years old, I was standing onstage at the World YoYo Contest. And I won. I was so excited. "Yes, I did it! I became a hero. I may get many sponsors, a lot of money, tons of interviews, and be on TV!" I thought.
Ali, 4 godine kasnije, kad sam imao 18 godina, stajao sam na pozornici World Yo-Yo Contesta. I pobijedio sam. Bio sam jako uzbuđen. "To, uspio sam! Postao sam junak. Mogao bih imati mnogo sponzora, mnogo novca, brojne intervjue i biti na televiziji!", pomislio sam. (Smijeh)
(Laughter)
No, nakon što sam se vratio u Japan,
But after coming back to Japan, totally nothing changed in my life.
baš ništa se nije promijenilo u mom životu.
(Laughter)
Shvatio sam da društvo ne cijeni moju strast.
I realized society didn't value my passion. So I went back to my college and became a typical Japanese worker as a systems engineer. I felt my passion, heart and soul, had left my body. I felt I was not alive anymore.
Vratio sam se na fakultet i postao sustavski inženjer, tipičan japanski radnik. Osjećao sam se kao da su moja strast, srce i duša, napustili moje tijelo. Osjećao sam se kao da sam mrtav.
So I started to consider what I should do, and I thought, I wanted to make my performance better, and to show onstage how spectacular the yo-yo could be to change the public's image of the yo-yo.
Počeo sam razmišljati što napraviti i pomislio kako želim poboljšati svoju izvedbu te na pozornici pokazati koliko spektakularan yo-yo može biti da bih promijenio način na koji ga javnost vidi.
So I quit my company and started a career as a professional performer. I started to learn classic ballet, jazz dance, acrobatics and other things to make my performance better.
Pa sam dao otkaz i započeo karijeru profesionalnog izvođača. Počeo sam učiti klasični balet, jazz dance, akrobatske vještine i druge stvari kako bih poboljšao svoju izvedbu.
As a result of these efforts, and the help of many others, it happened. I won the World YoYo Contest again in the artistic performance division. I passed an audition for Cirque Du Soleil. Today, I am standing on the TED stage with the yo-yo in front of you.
Zahvaljujući tim naporima i uz pomoć mnogih drugih, dogodilo se. Opet sam pobijedio na World Yo-Yo Contestu u kategoriji umjetničkog nastupa. Prošao sam audiciju za Cirque du Soleil. Danas stojim pred vama na TED-ovoj pozornici s yo-yom.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
What I learned from the yo-yo is, if I make enough effort with huge passion, there is no impossible.
Yo-yo me naučio da, ako uz ogromnu strast uložite dovoljno napora, ne postoji nemoguće.
Could you let me share my passion with you through my performance?
Biste li mi dopustili da s vama podijelim svoju strast kroz svoj nastup?
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(Glazba) (Pljesak)
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