A Commencement Speech Challenge

What if you were asked to give one?

As commencement season is underway, I started wondering what I would say if I were invited to make the address. I’m not famous enough to be given that opportunity but it doesn’t stop me from reflecting on what a young person might need to hear. Maybe it’s a speech I wish my graduating-self had been given. Or maybe it’s a culmination of what I’ve learned over these many years since I sat in that cap and gown.

Then I got thinking how interesting it would be if you did the same thing. What if we had a challenge and we all wrote a speech? Can you imagine? Let’s do it. Let’s pepper social media with our own commencement speeches. Even if our words aren’t widely read, we will be infusing the field of consciousness with our wisdom.

Wisdom needs to be shared. It’s not because we like the sound of our own voices or the sight of our own words—although both are probably true. We discover our wisdom through the act of sharing. The receivers of our wisdom aren’t getting a master plan for life that they now have to follow. They are being offered seeds. They can select the ones that inspire them and plant them in their own hearts where they will grow wisdom that belongs to them and will need to be shared in time with others. That way the field of consciousness keeps growing wiser and wiser.

Now that, hopefully, I’ve got you stirred up and reflecting, I need to take the challenge and write my own speech. Here it goes. Hint. This isn’t easy. At least it wasn’t for me. But it was a worthwhile exercise. I hope the same is true for you.

My Commencement Speech

You sit here today equal parts proud of what you’ve accomplished and excited about your next chapter. You may be nervous. That’s natural and can be handled by breathing slowly. A famous psychotherapist, Fritz Perls, once said, “Fear is excitement without the breath.” Breathing will not only calm your nerves and keep your body functioning, but metaphorically it will remind you of the most important truth you will need in life. You are not alone. You are carried by a higher power, life itself, a force of creation that flows complete with all needed resources.

If you’re like many of us, you may begin the next phase of your life by working hard, trying to prove to yourself and the world that you’ve got what it takes to succeed. That will take you far. It will also exhaust you. A more helpful approach is to apply yourself diligently while leaning into that higher power energetically. Allow yourself to be supported and surprised. This is not a race with winners and losers. In fact, if someone else is losing, you have definitely not won any prize worth having. We are all one organism—all people, the earth, and all its elements and creatures. By working together, for the good of all, we create something worthwhile.

Because we are all connected, the resources you need in any moment are all around you. If you focus on not having what you need, you’ll find yourself perpetually wanting. If you focus on gratefully affirming that your needs are met, you’ll be surprised at what appears.

It’s tempting to focus on what’s wrong and what you don’t have but that’s a dead end. I’ll share a little story. I was once on a long trip in a twenty-year-old RV. On a drizzly Friday afternoon, late in the day, in the middle of nowhere, the rig broke down. Did I mention this was my honeymoon? My new husband got out to hitch a ride to a shop and I started praying. At that point I had no track record with prayers working. But I prayed anyway—prayers of thanks. I focused on the metals of the earth that were used in the motor home, the beauty of the earth around us, the RV that would be completely fixed. Only five minutes later a pickup truck driving the other way pulled a U-Turn and parked behind us. He offered to help and was soon under the rig. He quickly delivered the diagnosis. Our fuel pump was shot so the gas wasn’t getting into the engine. That sounded like depressing news until he added, “I have an extra fuel pump in my truck. I just bought it. Would you like me to install it for you?” He didn’t even charge us, except for the price of the fuel pump. We were soon on our way, packing more than a fuel pump. We had hearts full of gratitude and an energetic touchstone to carry us through the challenges that came along in our lives. If the RV could be fixed in such a way, anything can happen. Angels are ready and waiting to appear as needed. Gratitude pulls them in.

Life will have many seasons, many challenges, many triumphs. You will make mistakes, and you will learn from them. You will have times of discouragement and loss and times of excitement and fulfillment. You will have joys beyond your wildest imagining. Through it all, remember, “This too will pass.” Do your best not to get attached to your circumstances or to your roles. Life is so much bigger than what is happening, and you are so much more than what you are doing. You are the power of life itself dressed up in human packaging.

At times you will see others achieve what you want yourself. Forego envy. Remind yourself that what is possible for one is possible for another. Unless you have a trauma tape running that implies you don’t deserve success or aren’t good enough to achieve it. If you do, get some good therapy to change that recording. You are not what happened to you, and you are not condemned to follow anyone else’s expectations. If you keep running into walls, consider your soul may have growth in mind for you that requires different experiences. In the end, you’ll be glad you endured and won the prize. In the beginning, it will probably be hard. Through it all remember that life is happening for you, not to you. It won’t serve you to think like a victim. You are a powerful creator. Create kindness and something that delights you and helps others.

Besides breathing and trusting that you are supported by life itself, my one other important piece of advice is to trust your intuition. If you haven’t developed that skill, you may think as I once did, that you’re not intuitive. It’s not true. We all have a voice inside, a psychic GPS, that will guide us every step of our way. It’s worth your while to cultivate your ability to hear this voice. Then follow its directions. People all around you will have advice, but your own counsel is the most important.

As you graduate today, you are at the top of the ladder. Tomorrow, you’ll be at the bottom as you start a new phase and realize there is so much you don’t know. Let that be okay. It’s not the first time you felt like a beginner, and it won’t be the last time. Life is a series of opportunities that stretch you into new abilities. That’s how our brains stay active and our souls stay humble.

For today, as I close, let’s go back to breathing. Take a big inhale and fill yourself with the pride and love that are all around you for this accomplishment and the faith that those who love you hold for you as you move on to your next steps. And as you let that breath go, release any anxiety and any need to prove something. Life has got you. It’s time to enjoy the ride.

Now it’s your turn

That’s my speech. When I finished it, I read it to myself. Even though nobody’s handing me a diploma today, I’m still in a place of creating myself anew. As I work on completing my book and imagine myself as a successful author, I need that reminder that life has got me. It’s my job to enjoy the ride.

If you take my challenge and write your own commencement speech, I hope you will read it to yourself. This exercise helps to distill what we’ve discovered over a lifetime to be most important. And, if you’re like me, the most crucial lessons require regular reminders. If you take the challenge, I’d love to read your speech in the comments. Actually, I’d love to read any of your comments!

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