Wow, it’s over! And, now we have a new beginning. You have closed a door and it is important that you hear it slam! This is because it is really closed. The high school days are finished. And you are, sadly or excitedly, going to enter into a new phase of life. There can be no return to the past. The first thing you must do is ask yourself the question:“Who woke up this morning: who woke up?” The answer is, of course, “I did.” And how did I know it was me? I knew it was me because of yesterday — my memories. This makes me a unique being: there is no one like me; no one will ever be like me and no one ever has been like me. So now my job in next four years, and in life really, is to truly develop the beautiful me. Some complications: a lot of people don’t know what they want to do, right? Period! “I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know what’s going on.” And that’s a good thing: and, of course, a bad thing. In the next several years, you will have “to choose” something to do, for sure. Now, conversely: people sometimes pick the wrong thing.
When you step out into the world when they are about 22 years old, or so: you have to act. If you don’t engage, you are very foolish, because action produces results. So, let’s say you don’t really know, for sure. But, you think you might want to be in international trade, or you might want to be a real estate salesman, or you might want to be in the entertainment industry; the hospitality industry — whatever it is may or may not be correct. The secret is to “take the initiative!”
Find a job and start — and that job you must promise yourself, “I am going to stay with this for four or five years — ten thousand hours.” Gain some experience because you have opened the door. This is the most important: and with that door comes a lot of pain, and a lot of joy. You will, for sure, be a wage slave (DBAWageslave.com) for a period of time: you will sell yourself for money. But, slowly but surely — this is what Malcolm Gladwell (1) is always talking about — you will be finishing an education and gaining experience. And, once the individual gains experience, expertise follows and no one can take the beautiful you, your life mission, (2) away from you. And this is not the beautiful you in the physical way, of course, It is the magic inside of you. This is because the body is just a temple. God willing, it is a good-looking temple, but that doesn’t matter – it really doesn’t matter! The point is to develop the beautiful you! But, for sure, a dirty word is coming up. It is very bad and kind of profane — I apologize: It is “w-o-r-k.” Work! You are going to have to work on you. Anyone who has been successful, whatever that means to you, has to work, right? I’m 61, almost 62 years old, and I now work more than I have ever worked, in my life for that matter, because I want to see something good come out of what I do. Thus, effort is required. So, my wish for you, as a brilliant and gifted human being, is good luck because you need a modicum of luck.
But who makes your luck? You do: I make my own luck and you make yours, as well. This is produced through loving yourself: even when you’re down and yet not getting too down. And being careful of the five dangers: alcohol, drugs, sex, money, and power — these are the “big five,” as I call them. They are all addictions, and most of us will experience them in life. We can’t avoid them. We stumble into them accidentally. But that’s okay! That’s okay! Really, it is okay! Don’t tell your mom, by the way, right? But it really is all right, as long as you promise yourself that you are going to come back to the beautiful you, right? Because: you have a job to do, and that’s developing the beautiful you in your lifetime. Additionally: make peace with your personal God, as you see him. Those that don’t are tragic. You go to any big city in the West, and you see the failures lying on the street, drunk, stoned — so disappointing! Or, take a walk in a shopping center and look at the blank eyes. All of them at 18 or 20 years old had a dream, but they weren’t brave enough to “do the dream,” to develop their dream: make sure you do it! Anais Nin (3) leaves us with a thought: Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
A closing thought: Change is always difficult and exhilarating at the same time. Challenges in life must be overcome. If not, the consequences are vile. We learn that we are also capable of failure as well as success. Failure, however, is a state of mind. If I accept this phenomenon as normal, it becomes part of the tableau of my life. I believe that striving, or effort, is normal in human beings, not acquiescence and surrender. Simply put: my will and determination are factors I need to control and enhance. Who is my teacher? Myself. Who is the most beautiful person that I know? Myself. Let us get to work!
To sum up: This week we spoke about graduation: when one door closes another is opened. Nevertheless, it is essential that we find that inner strength to “forge on” in life.
Just for fun – Les Miserables
A philosophical question: Why do you only discover that you have lost your favorite piece of clothing or jewelry when you want to wear it and not when you first lose it?
This week, please ponder your own graduation day: what was it like?
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: Never accept failure as a normal part of life. Until we are dead, we can affect change in life. It is up to the beautiful me.
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