Each year, we are inspired by successful individuals who are asked to share their knowledge and wisdom to graduating seniors. What better time to inspire students than just before they are heading out into the work force, right? Well, we try to continue to stay inspired by reading commencement addresses if we are not in attendance. This is a favorite of ours that we often refer to in order to remind ourselves and others that it is possible to “give meaning to your life” once you decide to take the reigns:
“You alone will have to define the feedback which is essential to give meaning to your life. For some, that feedback will include things like money, power, fame, status or countless other ingredients that are available to you. Down deep, you will come to know that you – you alone – have to decide this question or live your years in anguished unfulfillment. In connection with this point, you should also be aware that for a good part of your life you will be playing to those in the grandstand, a grandstand which includes your parents, your teachers, and your peers. At some point, however, you will discover that that grandstand loses its preeminence or, at least, that a more important grandstand exists inside yourself. So as you work to define your required feedback, remember that ultimately it is a lonely enterprise, for your deepest satisfactions must finally be internal not external.” Read the full commencement address.
Robert Ward, May 28, 1979.
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