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Health & Fitness

A Word To The Graduates -- GO BACK!!

What would you tell graduates today? Me, I'd say "GO BACK! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT! But you can't go backward, and neither can we.

I wrote this two years ago when my son graduated from Salisbury High School.

My son graduated from high school last week. He turned 18 just a few days later. I don’t know how this happened so fast. I’d swear that just last September we were putting him on the bus for kindergarten – a tentative, friendly, inquisitive kid who wanted his teacher to sit next to him while he worked, because that’s what mom did at home.

But last week when the bus dropped him off, out stepped this intelligent, articulate, thoughtful young man who grows a beard in less time than it takes his father to shave. What kind of growth ray do they have at that school?!

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As we sat there on Sunday and I watched my son sitting among 160 of the closest friends he’ll ever know, waiting anxiously for that sheepskin while teachers and administrators offered congratulatory remarks and the top scholars in the class delivered earnest speeches about friendship and hard work and the future, I thought back to all of the graduations I’ve attended since I picked up my own brontosaurus skin back in the ancient days. What would I tell these kids if I had a chance to speak, I wondered?

“DON’T DO IT! GO BACK! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT! IT REALLY IS A MEAN, OLD WORLD OUT HERE AND THERE ARE NO MORE SUMMERS OFF!”

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Seriously, though, we know you can’t go backward. You can’t stand still. We can’t freeze time. So as you come to the end of the common road you’ve traveled – in some cases for 13 or 14 years, counting pre-school – you need to think about the road ahead – the one you will travel without your companions. And when you do, think about yellow bricks, because the best analogy I can give you for life comes from Dorothy’s journey to see “The Wizard of Oz.”

Along the way, she found companions and qualities that provide all we really need to succeed, to find a happy life, to find your way back home.

Brains. You’re smart people. Think about that. That diploma you pick up today symbolizes all the knowledge you’ve gained in your school career. Think of all the skills you’ve learned, like algebra. Ok, maybe not algebra. We are sending you out of here today with everything you need to make a worthwhile life, even if you don’t go to college or continue your formal education. You know how to read. You know how to write, you can do basic math and you know, somewhat, how government works. You should be able to balance a checkbook, hold a job, pay your bills.

Heart. Regardless of all the book-smarts you’ll take with you, the things you really need are those things you learned in kindergarten. Kindness, friendship, sharing and caring. Don’t be afraid to care. Caring makes life worth living and the losses you might suffer make the victories so much sweeter. You’re losing the bonds you’ve known most of your life but you will make new, stronger ones that will stay with you much, much longer than these short 13 years.

Courage. Be confident. Don’t be afraid to take an occasional detour on the “Road of Life.” Take an unknown exit once in a while to see the “world’s biggest ball of string” or “the papier mache capital of the world.” Let your imagination run away with you and enjoy the trip while you’re gone. Dare to dream. Dreamers are the people who really change the world.

And as you travel your individual road, think about the traits instilled in you over the past 18 years by your parents, educators, clergy, aunts, uncles, neighbors and all of the other alleged adults in your life. There may come a time when you question one of those detours, when you wonder if it really is the best road to take. Then, think back. That’s when you have to let your heart overrule your mind. You’ll know if it is right because it will feel right. If it doesn’t feel right, if you wouldn’t want anyone else to know you did it, chances are it’s not the right road for you.

The other thing I strongly encourage you to do is take time to play. Life is not all about hard work. Smell the roses, to use an old cliché. Watch your own kids get on that bus and watch them get off. Enjoy your time with family, friends and others. We don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.

OK, that’s it. Get the heck out of here. You’re schooling is done, now your education can begin.

Oh, but before you go, I have one more poignant, deep thought to leave you with:

I, personally, have never used algebra.

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