It is an honor to be here today, through the democratic process even, as I understand you guys voted. Thank you. I will keep this mercifully brief as I bear in mind the constructive criticism I receive from my students each year: Sir, they say, you talk too much.
So I thought of talking about how LIFE IS SHORT. How we take for granted this amazing gift of consciousness, this unprecedented wealth of freedom. How it is our obligation to greet each new day with an ear splitting yelp of hallelujah. But it would be exhausting to invest our daily routines with the gratitude reserved for surviving tragedy.Fate is unpredictable, that much is true. But to live in fear of the unknown is crippling both physically and spiritually. So, even as we struggle to understand our purpose in this world, as we ask ourselves how to gain access to that elusive place between the past and the future, I find no easy answer. At least if I’m honest, no answer that I would have accepted when I walked in your shoes. So, I propose that to supplement living in the moment, we keep in mind that if we are lucky, life is not short. LIFE IS LONG. Which opens up this terrifying and exhilarating prospect of living with the consequence of our choices. Because the quality of your life depends greatly upon whom you choose to spend it with.
So choose your influences wisely. Surround yourself with people who laugh at the petty judgments of small minds. Who do not cower in the shadow of unmerited authority. Run with individuals who do not sap your energy with assumptions and fear. Be a companion to those who are struggling, help them to endure and lift them with you into prosperity. Find those who have never had the good fortune of knowing love. Find anything to love in them.
These acts of gratitude penetrates the surface of things. In these acts of courage and kindness you unearth the staggering potential of what we can do for one another by offering a simple smile or extending our patience through empathy. You unleash the potential of our humanity, discovering in the process a love that is not vain, inside of you, and that love attracts others who are unconsciously plugged in to this complex circuitry.
Be nice. Take chances. MAKE some noise. Start at the center of everything, which is where we are bound to the rest of the world. Open your arms wide to catch it all: the hardship and the blessings. Embrace this big sweet life.
(props to Jon D Graham for his "Big Sweet Life")
