Graduation is Over

"When you get to be our age, you all of a sudden realize that you are being ruled by people you went to high school with ... You all of a sudden catch on that life is nothing but high school." -Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Kurt wrote the above when he was 47 years-old during the time of the Vietnam War and after many years that drifted him through World War II and numerous jobs. It is a topic that could get wide spread discussion at a party. Both in regarding the quote and Kurt Vonnegut's life. But it also makes you stop and think about what one has done with their life since high school.

In a Time article by Annie Murphy Paul titled, Life After High School the discussion does take place. Are we that same person we were in high school? Did the time we spend in high school dictate the person we have become? Maybe to some degree it does but it doesn't have to be that way.

The person you are in high school is not the person you have to be later in life. All of our life experiences, high school, college, work, travel, friends, and just about everything has an influence on whom we become. But the determining factor in whom you become is you.

Think of those movies which depict what a person in high school turns out to be at the ten year, twenty-five and so forth reunions. Most times they are over-dramatizations or generalizations of people. But we get a picture of people that really didn't change much from high school.

The sports jocks get depicted as faded stars still talking about the winning touchdown. The geeks are shown as brainiacs with a lonely career in research. The partiers are revealed to still be whacked out people with no job living under the boardwalk. The stereo-types go on and on.

And yes, there are those that do not change. There are people that tend to keep holding onto their high school persona, never growing beyond that point in life. But the stories I like to hear are those of people that, what I call, 'drink from the water of life.' The people that have taken their high school life and used it as a launching pad towards a greater life. People with changed livesthat take what life has to offer and makes it work for them.

When we leave high school and home, we have the whole world before us. We can choose the type of life we desire. We have limitless potential. There will be those that choose a simplified life, full of the wonders and joy that exist there. Others will choose the uncharted road that is also full of wonders and joy. The point being that there is no right or wrong, just do the things that fill your life.

If ten years from high school have passed and you are unhappy, then the water of life is there to drink from. You can change what is happening and move beyond it. The same is true for any point in life. This isn't to say that you run from responsibility or run just because things get hard. You need to work through and persevere, but you can adapt and change along the way as well.

There is so much you can do with your life. You can take advantage of the power to change at any point, situation or age. All it takes is being bold enough to move. Your graduation is over and there are no more tests to take, just life.

100 Percent

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. ~Katherine Mansfield

A friend sent me the following a while back and thought I would share with you. It goes on to complain (in theory) of how some people achieve more then 100 percent out of life. But I like the math as a reflection of our own attitudes. So for your enjoyment and consideration, what makes 100%, the math theory.

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The following comes from 2 math teachers with a combined experience of seventy years. It has an indisputable mathematical logic to it. This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint, which goes like this:


What Makes 100%?


What does it mean to give more than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.


- How about achieving 103%?
- What makes up 100% in life?


Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:


If the ABCs are represented as percentage numbers:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I--J--K--L--M--N--O--P--Q--R--S--T--U--V--W--X--Y--Z
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26

then
H-A--R-D--W--O--R--K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and
-K--N--O--W--L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

but
A--T--T-I--T--U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while Hard work and Knowledge will get you close,  it is Attitude that will get you all of the way there.

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There are other word combinations that will take you beyond 100% but its attitude that gets you there. Think about it and see if maybe your attitudedoesn't add up to getting 100% of what you want in life.

Two Hands

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." -Arnold H. Glasow

I have had friends through out the years of my life that would fit the above quote perfectly. These people are ones that I hold close in my heart although many of them I have drifted from. With family and job changes, the miles and time seem to fill the gap. But I can truly say that these friends have helped shape my life.

I recently read a story to which I can't find an attribution or even how true the story is. But it does speak of friendship and what one will do for the other.

In WW1 an English soldier watched in horror how his lifelong friend fell under gunfire. All the soldiers had to retreat. The soldier went to ask permission from the lieutenant to go and fetch his friend from the no-mans-land.

The lieutenant gave permission, but added: "It is hardly worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may die too."

The soldier did not care about the warnings and miraculously he did reach his friend, lifted him to his shoulders and stumbled back. He was wounded in the process.

The lieutenant helped them to safety and noticed the soldier´s friend was dead. "I am sorry for your friend - but I told you it was not worth it. Your friend is dead and now you are also seriously wounded."

"I have to disagree with you. It was worth it", the soldier answered.

"What ever do you mean?" the lieutenant wondered.

"It was worth it", the soldier repeated. "When I got to my friend, he was still alive and said ´Jim, I knew you would never leave me.´

The friendships you receive in life are gifts. They keep you grounded when you begin to fly too high in self. They help pull you up off the ground when life is trying to bury you.

We know that these friendships will go through stages of closeness and also distance. But if you can point back to those that made a difference, then you are truly blessed.

For me I can count them on two hands. Two hands by which I can clench and stand my ground when circumstance tries to knock me down. Two hands to reach out and pull them up when they need me.

Remember your friends on this day, remember your friends tomorrow. Most of all, remember to be a friend.

Carpe Diem

"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." -John Keating, Dead Poets Society

Carpe Diem, an interesting phrase generally meaning "seize the day." It comes from a Latin poem written by Horace that has become sort of a statement of principle for many people. It is generally translated as "seize the day" and literally it means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, or gather", but Publius Ovidius Naso (better known as Ovid) used it to mean, "To enjoy, seize, use, make use of".

In Horace's poem, the long version is "Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero", meaning to "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future." His intent was to say that our future is uncertain and we should limit our hope's to a shorter future. In some respects he was speaking to people and business leaders that think short term goals or just the next quarter, so "drink one's wine."

In modern culture, I would argue that the quote above describes its use best. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary", meaning to use each and every day to do something great. Don't waste a single day waiting for the next day to occur; choose now, not later. Begin to move your life forward, to find your dreams, to have a great and 'extraordinary' life.

The future exists but you have to move towards it. To sit idle and allow the future to find you, it will only find you in the same place, sitting idle. You have the ability to impact your own future. You can impact your own future. So "Seize the day, folks. Make your lives extraordinary."