Graduates, for as long as you can remember, school has been a part of your life. For most of that time, it was an expectation. But, for these last few years, it’s been a choice. You have chosen to go further and challenge yourself to achieve a skillset that will set you apart. To learn not because you had to, but because you wanted to.
When you made that choice, for the first time in your life you set out on your own to take a challenging and powerful step toward true maturity. When challenges arose and temptation came knocking on your door, mom and dad were not right there to push you in the right direction. It was up to you to make the time to study, to do the work, to go to class, to ask for help and most importantly to not allow the party that was going on around you to get in the way of your plans. Today, we celebrate the undisputed fact that you were up to the challenge. Today, you join the proud group that can say I am a member of the graduating class of two thousand and twenty.
And what a special class this is. History will always remember you. Unfortunately, not as much for the hard work you put in, but for the adversity you had to overcome. How fitting it is that you are the class of twenty-twenty, because for the rest of your life you have the honor of being able to tell this world that you endured this adversity and saw with perfect clarity the world you would build beyond it.
So, as you prepare to go out into that world, I want to offer you some wisdom to take with you on your journey. Several years ago, I began to build a workshop that was intended to help people to recognize and avoid the moments in their life when they were getting in their own way. Through prayer and study, everything God has given me on that topic and everything I learned from great teachers who came before me was distilled down to four simple choices. Today, I’m going to encourage you to consider these choices just as you considered the choice you made to fight for the degree you hold today.
The first choice is to choose your center. This world is going to tempt you with many things to use as the driving force in your life. What it will recommend to you is PRIDE, POWER, PLEASURE, PERCEPTION, and PROTECTION. Each of these things will invite you to turn the spotlight on yourself and make your life about what brings you the most comfort.
However, I would like to recommend another choice. When Christ was among us, he challenged his disciples to be a light to the world. He was not asking them to be a spotlight to shine on the sins of others. He was challenging them to be a lighthouse. To let their life be a light that shows others a safe passage to a better way of living. So, I challenge you to choose PURPOSE as your center. I truly believe that the very moment God breathed you into existence he placed a purpose at your very core. But, he gave each of us the ability to choose if we will dig it out. Psalms 20:5 says that “the purposes of a person’s heart are like deep waters, but one with insight draws them out.” I encourage you to have the wisdom to discover your purpose and let that be the force that drives you.
The second choice is to choose your default mode. Just like a simple washing machine, we were all created with the capacity to operate in several different modes. Although we have the ability to select the best mode for each circumstance, it’s in our nature to choose one mode that becomes our default response to the world around us. The modes we have been given are SADNESS, ANGER, DISGUST, FEAR and HAPPINESS. At any given point we may naturally react to what is happening in our world in one of these ways. But, when our circumstances cause us to unnaturally choose one of these modes as our default, they can mutate into something that drive a wedge between us and the world around us. Sadness becomes DISPAIR, anger becomes BITTERNESS, disgust becomes INTOLERENCE, and fear becomes PESSIMISM. Any of these defaults can cause us to see the world through a lens that God never intended.
I do believe that God preselected a default mode for us. When we were created he turned the dial to happiness and the longer we choose to stay dialed into that, the more that mode evolves into JOY. I encourage you to fight each day to stay rooted in joy because if you do you will be able to clearly see the beauty this world has to offer.
The third choice is to choose your fuel. The road ahead of you may be long and windy. As you go on your journey, it will be important to take in the right fuel to get you to where you want to go. You will need fuel for your MIND, BODY and SOUL. Once again, this world is going to tempt you with cheap and dangerous fuels that can do tremendous damage. I encourage you to be selective of what you use as energy.
Your mind will draw from what you see and hear each day. What are you exposing it to on the internet, on TV and with the kinds of music you are listening to? Dark and disturbing images and sounds overtime can corrode our mind and impede its ability to help us achieve our purpose.
Your body draws its energy from the food you eat and the exercise you give it. Don’t be fooled. The only path to a healthy body is eating right and exercise. Any other strategy the world offers you will only produce short term results at best and is only intended to separate you from your money.
Your soul can only draw energy from the source that created it. We have all been given the ability to decide for ourselves what that source is. I challenge you to invest the time and study to figure that out. I’ve done the work and I know that the God I found is big enough to stand up to any king of scrutiny. Ask hard questions. Study all the truth you can find. Eternity may be riding on the answer to this one question. Don’t allow this to be the final exam you show up to unprepared.
The final choice is to choose your actions. Throughout your life so many things will happen to you. This pandemic is a sobering example of something that can happen to us that we have absolutely no control over. But the truly wise know this. Each of us has the ability to choose how we respond to anything. If you can learn to be intentional and proactive and you keep your focus squarely on the purpose that is set in front of you, you take the power away for everything you can’t control. You empower yourself to endure in all circumstances. Whether you’re juggling a million tasks at work or struggling to fill your day while sheltered in place at home, make a plan every week. Make sure it includes every priority you hold dear. Don’t let your circumstances dictate your ability to show up for the important moments in your life. Always remember that the failure to plan is always a plan to fail. But if you do fail, just remember that your failures will either define you or refine you. You get to choose. So choose wisely.
So, one final thought for the graduating class of twenty-twenty. You have chosen to achieve this great honor, but you weren’t able to choose the stage on which you received it. Don’t let the regret about this moment rob one ounce of joy you deserve for every sacrifice you made to get here. Today you are part of the twenty-twenty graduating class. You are a symbol of endurance and hope for all those who come after you. Take your place in history with dignity and confidence. Go and let your light shine for this shaken world and choose to live your life with passion, dignity and integrity.