I'm not sure if you follow postsecret or not, but this video was
posted on the postsecret's facebook page.
It's a five minute commencement speech that gives a lot of
random pieces of advice that are interesting and uplifting.
Commencement speeches are so meaningful, but not often heard.
You only graduation once or twice, maybe 3 times in your life.
I had a fifth grade "graduation" a while ago and I was picked to
read a poem I had written.
It wasn't that great, but at the time I LOVED writing and I
wanted to be an author, so I wrote stories and poems all the time.
My fifth grade teacher really believed in me and would always read
my stories and even helped me win a couple contests and get published
in a newspaper. Well she also convinced me to read the poem I had
written about the teachers and students at my elementary school at my
fifth grade moving up/graduation ceremony in front of a lot of people.
I'm pretty sure I was speaking so quickly and quietly
that no one even heard me read my poem.
Although it wasn't quite a commencement speech,
it was the closest I have ever come to giving one.
In my senior year in my AP Lit class, at the end of the year
when we all just wanted to get the heck out of high school, my teacher
assigned us the task of writing a farewell speech.
It was supposed to be kind of like a commencement speech and she
wanted us to incorporate our past, present, and future into it
as well as how we want to be remembered.
It was a really open-ended assignment and everyone came up
with completely different things, doing theirs in different formats
or focusing on different things that influenced them.
At first I had no idea what to do, but that it hit me!
If you haven't realized by now, my life quote or motto or whatever
you'd like to call it, is "always love".
It comes from a song with the same title by a band called Nada Surf.
The song isn't that meaningful to me, but I love the title.
Anyways that motto and my faith were the focuses of my farewell speech
as well as the idea that the decisions we make everyday show
who we are. The speech is somewhat long, but I'd like to post it here.
You don't have to read the whole thing or read it at all.
But I suggest you do watch the video above.
because I really liked it. :)
Anyways, here's my speech that I wrote a year ago
(it's also posted on my facebook notes)...
Life is defined by our choices.
Each decision we make shapes who we are and who we will become.
When we choose how to spend our time, we are forming our values
and deciding what is most important to us.
When we choose who we want to spend time with,
we are deciding what qualities we desire most in our relationships.
And when we choose our dreams and form our goals for the future,
we are deciding who we want to become.
Personally, I have made some big decisions in the past few years.
Concerning my future, I have recently decided to go to
Eastern University in Pennsylvania next year.
This decision was a long process filled with applications, campus visits,
and pro-con lists. My choice to go to Eastern will define who I am
for the next four years and it will help me to
define my future after that as well.
Two years ago I made the decision to travel to Guatemala
to stay in an orphange and volunteer in the surrounding community.
This choice changed me by allowing me to observe another culture
and realize how truly blessed I am to have a biological family
to support and love me. It also showed me that when you give your time
to help another person, you gain so much more in return.
Helping others isn't a sacrifice at all,
it's an experience that teaches you about life
and helps you realize who you are and what is important to you.
The song "Who Needs Air" by The Classic Crime says
"I have come to the realization that life is more than
what we have accomplished. And life is more
than the realization that we have accomplished nothing at all.
True success is selfless." I believe that true success and happiness in life
has little to do with the insignificant accomplishments
that we achieve and everything to do with what we do
to make a difference in the lives of others. I have also made decisions
in the past to forgive those who have hurt me.
I have learned that forgiving doesn't mean that you approve
of what the other person has done or that your okay with their choices,
but instead it means that you have chosen to not allow
their previous decisions to affect you any longer
and that you have chosen to give them another chance.
I have realized that no one is perfect and no one can be,
so forgiving needs to be a way of life and something that we do often.
The most significant decision I have made during my life
was the decision I have made to live my life for God.
This decision has influenced my past, present, and future
more than any other decision I have made.
It has formed my beliefs and values and it has caused me
to set high standards for myself. It has influenced how I spend my time
and what I believe is important. It has even influenced each
of the previous decisions I have mentioned.
Most importantly this decision has given my life purpose.
A verse from the book 1st Corinthians in the Bible says
"If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor and
surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
To me this means that without love, our lives have no purpose.
Even if you sacrifice everything you own to the point of giving up
your life, if you don't love, then your actions are meaningless.
Love isn't just a feeling, love is truth, and love is hope, perseverance,
and strength in the face of difficulties. Love isn't just the way you feel
towards another person, it is how you act when you don't think
anyone is watching. The passage I read before goes on to define love.
It states that "Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
I believe God is love and love is a lifestyle.
It is a decision I have made to always love because
no matter what I say or do or believe,
it means nothing without love or without God.
So I want to be remembered as someone who strives to always love.
Someone who sees the world and people for who and what
they are and instead of judging them, accepts them and loves them.
Because at our core we are all the same.
We're all humans who encounter pain, love, death, life,
confusion, struggle, and laughter in our lives.
We all learn, grow, and change.
We do things were not proud of and never intended to do.
And we do things we never imagined we could.
We say things we don't mean and
we don't say the things that mean the most.
But at the core of our existence is love.
Love for one another and love for the beautiful things in life;
for truth, for family, for music. Love for being alive.
The founder of the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms,
Jamie Tworkowski, said "I believe God works in love, speaks in love,
and is revealed in our love."
We all make decisions everyday that define who we are.
I believe that making the choice to love and conscientiously making
an effort to love in all situations is the most important and defining
decision in our lives and is a decision that will show others God.
If you made it through the whole thing, thank you.
You deserve a hug. :)
And as always, I welcome your comments and responses.
always love,
h
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