You are talented and able people and I have great confidence in you. I suspect you will do great things. I trust that you will always remain grounded and remember where you have come from.
My greatest hope for you is for you to be happy and fulfilled, to find a life that suits you and that you live it with conviction and passion. You have learned subject matter in hyour academic life, but I trust that you have also learned about yourself. And now, with that knowledge it is time to embark on the real journey.
Along the way…………………
Fall in love and linger there as long as you can
Find your bliss and follow it
Learn to say you’re sorry and mean it
Realize you are never as good as you are on your best day, and never as bad as you are on your worst
Bend the rules, that’s what they were made for
Stand on top of a mountain and in the depths of a valley and enjoy both views
Ride in a gondola in Venice, walk the Champs-Elysees and stand in St. Peter’s Square
Be a parent and work hard at it
Plant something and watch it grow
Try something you aren’t good at and don’t quit
Be humble
And don’t be late for your life
Contemplate DYLAN…..really!
Learn to say “I was wrong” and mean it
Be confident
Respect the earth and all the things that inhabit it
Play an instrument, even if it’s badly
Build your bank account…..your memory bank account
Talk less and listen more
Sit on a front porch in the South with a glass of iced tea
Tell a lot of jokes, even if you are lousy at telling them
Read a book a month and pass it on to someone else
Write more letters and fewer instant messages
And don’t be late for your life
Find spiritual meaning and contemplate a power greater than yourself
Watch a sunrise from an airplane and a sunset from a boat
Learn another language
Share laughter; because it’s infectious
Read a poem each day and celebrate the sound and beauty of language
Find friends you can “pass time” with
Help someone because you want to, not because you have to
Stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona and see if it is “such a fine site to see”
Own things; don’t let them own you
And don’t be late for your life
Use your mind
Nourish your spirit
Explore your soul
Cry at a movie and admit it
Try and listen to sitar music
Fight for peace
Embrace diversity
Listen to CASH and use less credit
And don’t be late for your life
Schedule an early morning class to remember why you are really there
Thank your parents for the sacrifices they made
Tell the truth……it is the better option
Don’t self-medicate……there are no answers there
Drive Highway One (in California) in a convertible
Go to Wrigley and sit in the bleachers on a summer afternoon
Remember those that went before you and contemplate those that will follow
Teach your children to read and to love it
Go to a drive-in in your pajamas
Walk barefoot on as many beaches as you can
Always buckle up
Revel in silence
Ignore mediocrity
Defend freedom
Attack ignorance
And most of all, be the hero of your own life
Iris Lemon once said to Roy Hobbs, “We have two lives; the one we learn with and the one we live with after that.”
The time has come to bid you farewell. Go and live well!