Enjoy! Much love!
~~~~~
Coast Union Valediction of 2010
Welcome family and friends. Let me start with this: thank you.
The love, support, words of wisdom, and even the smacks on the back of the
head, helped shape the young adults that stand before you. That is not to say
that we didn’t work hard to get to where we are today. We did, we put in the
hours of work. But without you, it would have been completely different. On
behalf of the class of 2010, thank you.
To my fellow graduates.
The time has come, we are about to embark on the adventure
called life. That is not to say that what we have experienced thus far isn’t
life, but from here on out it will be very different. There will be no adults
to “bail us out,” no teachers to remind us when things are due; we will be
completely responsible for our lives. So what does being the only person
responsible for your actions represent? To some, freedom and power. To others,
fear and uncertainty. No matter how we view it, change is something we must
embrace, learn from, and move on with new tools that will enable us for a
better life.
So the question becomes this: What will you do with your life?
Do not be misled, a life of indifference is just as bad as a
life of crime. If we are not actively seeking what is right, what is just, then
we are just as guilty as the man who threw the stone. Instead of leading an
existence of indifference, live life out loud. Find your passion and follow it.
The world will know you by your actions. What will you choose to lead your life?
Here is my challenge for you:
Choose Love.
Choose a life of love, and
your legacy will be great. That does not necessarily mean a life of luxury or
wealth or fame. In fact, love will most likely entail a humble life. But the
footprints you leave behind will provide more for future generations than any
monetary endowment ever could. Choosing such a life though, is not easy. Love
is not some mushy emotion. Love is a choice. It is an action. You must decide
to love. You may fall in love, but you must choose to stay there. Loving will
be the hardest part of life, and yet the most rewarding. To love is to want the
best for ones you like least.
What do you want to be your
legacy? Who will you be defined as?
Though I am not Morgan
Freeman, who narrates everything best, I will leave with these words from the
poem “Invictus”:
“In the feel clutch of
circumstance
I have not winced nor cried
aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of
chance
My head is bloody, but
unbowed.
It matters not how strait
the gate,
How charged with punishments
the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Thank you.
~~~~~
