Congratulations! Such a milestone—finishing
high school! Your family won’t have
to tell you of their unending admiration for you. Those feelings for you, they’ll wear on their
sleeve and tell you over and over of their pride and unabiding love. However, there IS something that they might
NOT tell you, something important that you need to know before you pull out of
your driveway and off to your new adventure--something so essential that it
must be heard by every graduate.
Although you probably
learned the opposite all your life, let me tell you that these days after high
school are ones in which it is essential to be…selfish. That’s right.
It is time to think only of you. You
are enough, and you are worthy, so very worthy.
You are worthy of an
intellectual journey all your own. Drink in all that your professors have
to say. Take advantage of educational experiences abroad. Join
clubs. Act, sing, dance—Grab those four years of literacy, mathematics,
history and science and squeeze the life out of them. You are worthy of
the best that education can offer. Your brain is capable, your thoughts
valuable, your contributions endless and needed. Yes graduate, you are
worthy.
You are worthy of
loyalty and love without compromise. As you move into adulthood make a
promise to yourself that you will seek out those who see your value, who know
your goodness, who build you up and would never tear you down. When you
find them, hold onto them, because you see they are scarce in this world.
But scarcity does not mean that you settle. You will need those that are
true to you on your life course. You are worthy of nothing less. Never
ever accept anyone who isn’t keenly aware and fiercely protective of your
worth.
You are worthy of finding
your purpose. Take your time. Let it come. There is no
rush. Experience life to the fullest, try new things and someday…there it
will be…your reason, your destiny. And whatever it is that you find, you
are worthy of exploring it to its highest possibility. Don’t let anything
stand in the way of who you want to become, of your earthly purpose. If
you fulfill that, everything else will fall into place.
You are worthy of
self-interest. Your empathy and kindness is something to be
celebrated indeed, but be sure it doesn’t cost you more than you can pay—your
sanity, your peace of mind, your ability to do what you want to do, see what you
want to see, go where you want to
go. The selflessness that you carry within you is admirable, but let me
suggest or even urge that over the next few years, as you enter into adulthood
that you remember to put yourself first more often than you do now. You
and your needs are worth it. Rumi says to “Respond to any call that
excites your spirit.” This quote should be the battle cry of the young! I
am certainly not saying “go ahead and be selfish”. I am simply saying
that words like “what is it that I want for myself?” and “I won’t take part in
what wouldn’t be good for what I need right now,” are words that should move to
the forefront of your mind. Believe me, when you start your career, when
you marry, when you have children, when your parents age there will be plenty
of moments where selflessness and sacrifice will be necessities and
must-do’s. But at 18…it is perfectly ok to do what is best for you.
Don’t ever forget that that doing for yourself is something in which you are
worthy.
And finally great,
gregarious graduate, you must think about yourself and know your worth because despite
what the fairy tales tell us, there are NO knights in shining armor whose sole
purpose is to rescue damsels in distress, no princes on white horses, no
magical fairy godmothers. You only have you and your sense of self-worth
to get you to where you want to travel, to pull you up by the boot straps when
you slip and fall. Only your worthy self can turn your saddest days into
happy ones, and your darkest places into light.
When it comes right down to
it…down to the nitty gritty…YOU are all you’ve got.
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