Congratulations to the Class of COVID-19!!! Put on your facial coverings, hypoallergenic latex gloves and socially distance yourself from your fellow students, friends and family. And don’t touch your diploma for 2 to 3 days after receiving it in the mail to ensure it is corona virus free.
So, your senior year hasn’t quite turned out the way you thought it would? Well this is an important life lesson. Not everything in life works out the way you think it will or the way you want it to. Here’s some more uncharacteristically positive and inspiring life advice on the occasion of your pandemic graduation.
As you enter college or the working world, remember what the Rolling Stones sing –
You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find . . . you get what you need. . . oh Yeah!
Sometimes life is hard and sometimes life is easy. Remember that nothing lasts forever and everything changes whether you want it to or not – sometimes for the better and sometimes not so much so. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Think of life this way . . .
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein
Keep a positive attitude, work hard, and believe in yourself. Do something that will make a positive difference for others no matter how small or how insignificant you may think your contribution is.
Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, your values become your destiny. – Mahatma Gandhi
Do or do not. There is no try. – Yoda (a Jedi Master)
Sometimes the best you can do under the circumstances doesn’t feel like it is the best you could have done. It probably is. Life is not like a movie or a TV show. Not everything will work out and/or make sense to your satisfaction.
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. – Henry Ford
Don’t internalize your disappointment and dwell on your failures. Accept what you can’t change and change what you can. And learn how to tell the difference between the two.
Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t. – Michelle Obama
Always remember that there are a lot of bad things in this world – poverty, disease, hunger, war, persecution, inequality, hate, racism, prejudice, discrimination, etc. Don’t add more. There’s already enough of the bad to go around. Do good. Make the world a better place.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Dr. Martin Luther King, J
You may think that you are special, but isn’t everyone special? Think about it.
Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. – Vince Lombardi
Try to practice humility and strive to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. – Oprah Winfrey
The Beatles wrote “All You Need is Love”. This is true, but you’re also going to need a job, a place to live, clothes, health insurance, friends, etc.
My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent. – Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Accept people for who they are. It may not always be easy, but that’s not the point.
I try not to live my life worrying about what others think. A core spiritual quality is non judgment which is not just about not judging others, but also not living your life worried about others judging you. – Deepak Chopra
Be adventurous. Take some risks. God helps those who help themselves.
l would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not. – Lucille Ball
Make friends and carry a small bottle of Tabasco sauce with you. It makes most anything palatable enough to eat.
If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him . . . the people who give you their food give you their heart. – Cesar Chavez
And last, but not least – don’t worry, be happy. Love someone.
There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. – George Sand (French female author)
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. – Robert A. Heinlein (American sci-fi author)
Well, there you have it. All of the life wisdom I have amassed and could share with you just short of committing plagiarism. Easier said than done. Again, life’s a lot like that. It’s idiomatic. And sometimes idiotic. As Dicky Fox’s character from Jerry Maguire said “Roll with the punches. Tomorrow is another day”.
Matt
Copyright 2020 “The Welcome Matt”
ISSN #1538-2648
“The Welcome Matt” is an irreverent and sometimes humorous commentary on life, relationships and society in general as experienced by the author of “The Welcome Matt” – Matt.
