This is an exciting time of year for many of our young citizens – graduation day is nearly upon us! Whether it be from high school or college or with an advanced degree of some sort, graduations are certainly something to celebrate and to be proud of. This is, after all, an important milestone in your life and can help open certain doors for you to a better and more exciting future.
Now, I don’t mean to be a killjoy or to, in any way, damper the celebratory sensation our graduates may feel, but I do wish to caution that graduation is merely a milestone that marks a tremendous achievement in life but should not be perceived as the event that makes everything change for the better. I know so many people, young and old, that seem to dream about the next milestone magically catapulting them into some state of happiness or success. How many times have you heard someone lamenting, “Once I graduate everything will be different”? Or, “Once I get my first job …”; or, “Once I get a promotion …”; or, “Once I move out of home …: or, “Once I get married…” or …
Milestones mark a destination reached upon our journey, but, the fact of the matter is, the scenery immediately before and immediately after the milestone looks much the same. Almost anything you do the day after graduation you could have done the day before. You may feel a short-term euphoria with the graduation process, but if you were not a happy, nice, generous, caring person before graduation, you will not be one after. If you were not a hard worker, gregarious, go-getter with a drive to succeed before being handed your diploma, you will not be one with the diploma hanging on your wall.
Milestones do not change us. Milestones do not change the world around us. Milestones do not alter our outlook on the world or transform us into someone different. No – we must do that ourselves. And, we need not wait on any milestone to start making those changes.
Like I said, graduating from school is an accomplishment to be proud of and something I encourage all of you to celebrate with gusto, but don’t expect any miraculous transformation to occur tonight or tomorrow or next week, simply because you achieved this milestone. Achieving the milestone may alter your daily routine; it may open a few doors to you that were previously closed – but, it also comes with greater expectations; more responsibilities and a future milestone to reach. To be happy; to be satisfied; to be a success; to be a valued member of society is not accomplished by achieving a milestone – it is accomplished through our personality; our drive; our tenacity; and our everyday approach to each and every day we live in our journey to the next milestone. If you want a better, happier, more fulfilling life – make today your day to start being that way. Don’t wait for the next milestone in your journey.
Graduation is indeed a terrific accomplishment - but there are plenty of happy, successful and well respected people in this world that never achieved that particular milestone. No, although milestones help measure how far we have come; milestones do not define who we are. We do that by how we behave and how we approach and live each day in pursuit of the next milestone.
Congratulations on your accomplishment. Be proud; be joyous; be thankful to those who helped you along the way; but, most of all, be prepared to be responsible for who you are and not let the promise of a next, distant milestone be a barrier for you making a difference in your own life today.
