Funny how things happen. The old man had just reconnected with The First Girlfriend. After like sixty years. There had always been a file with her name on it in the storage locker of his heart. To be honest, there were a few files in there, all but one file marked ‘cold case.’
She will remain twelve. They were feeling each other out, an obvious and awkward double entendre. Which had nothing to do with nothing. Seems little or nothing much had changed. Grasping at trying to understand somebody while going through so many changes of your own at the same. Just like when they were twelve. Like she’s speaking girl and he’s speaking boy. Females were life’s great mystery.
They were discussing what to do now. How to live now. How do you live now. Their relationship was like teleportation. You say goodbye in 1960 and say hello again in 2016. The old man thought that was weird and amazing and perhaps cool. Some real Back To The Future shit right there.
Weird interesting and cool at the same time a letter arrived. Seems The Hubert Selby Jr. School of Poetics wanted the old man to give this year’s commencement address. First glance he had seen junior high school, middle schoolers. Knew right then he was wrong. Went ahead anyway.
He had no idea what to say to an auditorium full of people smarter than he was.
The old man thought about The First Girlfriend. You are depressed. I am delusional. If you are going to mess with your own head, why not become your own hero. That was his philosphy. Some people chose to think less of themselves. Hell, why not choose to think more of yourself.. Fill yourself up with yourself. Be big. Blow it up, babe.
***
***
Commencement Address at The Hubert Selby Jr. School of Poetics
This is what I believe. I believe fun is good. And doing good for others is the most fun you can have. God exists and miracles happen.
And prayer works. God, I hope so. Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow’s not here yet. May never see it. But we are here now. We are here right now. Right now. Now.
There is only today and we can each make a difference right now. Your reach must exceed your grasp. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. A setback is just a setup for a comeback. Not how far you drop, but how high you bounce. Once you learn to swim, doesn’t matter how deep the water.
Success is never an accident. There are few things that cannot be achieved by hard work and sheer determination, When an irresistible force meets an immovable object. That object will move, maybe not far, maybe not fast, but it will move. It will move. It will. Believe that.
Envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide. We are what we do and all of us could do better. Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare. Your vision of who or where you want to be is the greatest asset you have. There are no short cuts to any place worth going. Without a goal, it is difficult to score. Change should not be feared but embraced. All change is not progress. [Aside. Look at the cute chick with the short skirt in the front row. Ask her directly.] Really, when was the last time anything was improved by “reform”? All progress is not improvement.
The person who doesn’t make mistakes is unlikely to make anything. Often it’s right to be wrong. Nothing is brain surgery except brain surgery. Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue.
You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.
Live every day like your mother, your minister, your doctor and the police chief were watching. There’s an instant between what happens to you and how you respond. In that instant lies your freedom and power to choose what you do.
In those choices lie your growth and happiness. What choices will you make? It is better to be in a position to help others than to need help ourselves. So put yourself in position to help.
Plagiarism isn’t easy. So, I want to admit, I got most of my philosophy of life from the front display window of a t-shirt shoppe on Duval Street. Maybe that’s my point. Find it where you can get it. That’s my point. Yes, that’s it. Find it where you can get it. Yeah. That.
Life is not a spectator sport. Life is a contact sport. We need to do more. We need to do better. We need to start now. This is what I believe.
What do you believe?
***
Thank you and God bless.
More importantly, more importantly, because turns out this is basically what life is all about, good luck.
Look at somebody close to you and wish them good luck.
Be the wind in your own sails. Take them with you.
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