the threshold of life...........

Chances are unlikely that I will ever be asked to give a commencement speech. I am not an important enough celebrity, with any uber knowledge on any subject that would make me worthy of such a request. I am a plain, hard-working citizen of earth the learned everything in the "school of hard knocks". There are no commencement services at this school of learning, and no real graduation day to celebrate the end of an era. It's an on-going journey that I call life. It's what happened to me while I was busy making other plans.

The experience gained through the journey is more than I could have expected; the path ever-changing, and the time lightning fast. I hardly believe that it's been 31 years since my own high school graduation... but I've never stopped learning. It's been an ongoing process that seduced, with it's medusa-like tendrils, a knowledge gene to always want to know more. The "why" of life. Thirty-one years later, I still question this "why" factor, but I have a better handle on the answers than I once did. Moving past the naivete' of my teenage years, where I thought then that I possessed the secret to lifes mysteries, I find myself in this new pasture of middle age. Experience along the way altered many of the answers of my youth; I can see clearer and wider than the confines of my own mind, and self-education is key to surviving the path of life.

As the graduates of the Class of 2006 enter yet another rite of passage, I wish them well, and leave them with a few lessons I've learned while walking down the yellow brick road:

~Life is rough, tough, and full of bumpy roads. It never really gets easier, and many times it's just plain not fair. It is the attitude deriven from the curve balls that test the spirit, and show the character within.... a lesson that takes many years to develop. Get yourself over that hump as fast as you can, and develop relationships with people who will build you a foundation of solid friendships. They will ease the heavy moments, and encourage the strengths for you gather momentum in your quest for inner peace.

~High School is just a stepping stone, college a temporary dropping-by spot. You will learn more as you step further away from the friends you had in school, and new peer pressures will tempt you to do things you were always told to be cautious about while under your parents supervision. Play those games smart. Too many times we parents read horrifying stories of over-indulgence; be it behind the wheel of a car, or frat parties. No one will ever remember if you drank 5 beers, but they will remember a trip to the emergency room if you drank 50 and passed out. Having a brain-dead child was not what we envisioned for you when we cuddled you at night and read you stories. Our job was to see you safely through the difficult learning years, and get you safely into adulthood. Please don't break our hearts with foolish decisions.

~Maid service is officially over. It is now time for you to learn how to truly take care of yourself with chores that require you to learn how to: do your own laundry, pay bills, shop for groceries, balance your checkbook, make your own appointments for the doctor, and budget your time and money. It's a tall order, yes, but we've been doing it for years and know that practice makes perfect..... and whether you like it or not, you have to learn it too. You've been telling us that you're all grown up..... well this is where you start learning the real facts of life.

~As far as possible, learn to be wise in your choices. We all have gut feelings, as they were the teachings of our youth. Learn how to read them better. This applies to relationships, job opportunities, and dealing with difficult situations. Sure, we all make mistakes, but the point is to learn by them. This, too, takes many years to master, but is well worth the effort if you start in your youth. The road IS bumpy, but a good set of shock-absorbers makes it less rattling to the soul.

~Never lose your inner child of wonderment and learning. There are plenty of books published on all subjects and ideas that man has had since the beginning of time. They may not all apply but many contain the wisdom of the brilliant writers and sages. It's pretty much a guarantee you will find a path that is akin to your soul, and beliefs through this knowledge... be willing to quantify this.

~Trust in a higher power than yourself, whatever you conceive Him, Her, It to be. Having faith is having hope, having hope is having a voice, and having a voice from your soul means that all possibilities are endless. We live in a free society that depends on the voice of the people... spoken from the heart and souls of the individuals. Use that voice wisely, as it does affect history, and it's something you will pass down to your children someday.

~Get involved with issues to make the world a better place to dwell in. Don't be a "me" person, be an "us" person. This is the tallest order of all, as we need to temper progeny with sound and reasonable exercise. Remember, he who shouts loudest is not always right just because he yelled louder. To state your purpose and argue your point takes a great degree of intelligence, a sound mind, and solid facts.

~Lastly, never give up, no matter the rains of disappointment that seem to dissolve your resolve. A survivor always looks to tomorrow, no matter how bleak the circumstances ahead of them. Your lifeboat is more floatable if you learn to remove the sharp objects. Stormy seas are a fact of life (remember earlier when I told you it's just not fair sometimes), but learning to navigate the waves greatly improves your chances of staying afloat. Trust in yourself, you are smarter than you, or we, think you are.

May all the graduates who embark upon the real world in the next few weeks fulfill the hopes and dreams of their souls. It's what we as their parents told them all through their youth: You can be anything you want to be, but it does require that you need to work at it, and re-invent yourself from time to time to keep up with the changing tides.
Being at the threshold is the opportunity we middle-agers wish we could recapture... with all the knowledge we have now. A lifetime of good is all at the fingertips of our youth. Let it be our quest to encourage that in them.... they are deserving of it, as they are our future.