Last year, I was asked to speak at the National Honor Society induction ceremony at a local high school. The school is one of the top academic schools in our state and has a large chapter of the NHS. After shaking free of my initial puzzlement, I gladly accepted. I struggled with a topic. So, I told the truth. Here is the transcript from that speech (I hope you enjoy it). Maybe it can still resonate today:
Thanks for that intro – I’d like to meet that guy.
Unfortunately you’re stuck with me.
Seriously, it is indeed an honor to be here today, to
be a part of such an auspicious occasion, to join the proud families, faculty
and staff in celebrating the achievements of the 2012-2013 Lexington High
School’s National Honor Society inductees.
I must admit, after Mrs. Scurry and Mrs. Cormany first
approached me and asked me to speak to you today I had a difficult time coming
up with a topic. After all, there aren’t many topics that a person can
effectively talk about for 90 minutes.
No, don’t worry, I know that my job is to speak and your job
is to listen, and that I need to finish my job before you finish yours.
But, truthfully, I had an incredibly tough time coming up
with a suitable message for today. Sure there are many topics that would be appropriate
for the occasion, but none of them seemed to fit.
For instance, I could talk about the importance of honesty –
how it is always wise to remember the adage – “honesty is the best policy”. But
that message can really be summed up in two short comments. I once heard former
NFL head coach Dan Reeves speak and he said, “Always tell the truth. That way,
you never have to worry about what you said.” Short and sweet, and sums it up
fairly well. Hard to make that effectively last for 15 minutes.
Then, I tried to become more philosophical – maybe that
would take up more time. I thought, “What if I were to explain how to live a
long life?” After much thought, I realized that the comic strip “BC” provided a
very short answer for that one, too – never die.
So, I started going down my list of meaningful traits and positive
practices. I turned to some speakers who have been positive influences on my
life.
There’s Jimmy Valvano’s Never Give Up speech from the ESPY
Awards. But, I feel certain that in order to achieve induction into the
National Honor Society, you’ve all had to persevere and know the importance of perseverance.
Then, there’s this guy named Einstein - I’m sure some of you
have heard of him. He said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” But Joubert
counters with “He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet.”
In either case, I’m confident that you have utilized both very well to get
where you are today.
One of the most brilliant minds of our age, Yogi Berra, made
an astute observation about goals and goal setting when he remarked, “If you
don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Again, you’ve
all obviously established significant goals and know what is required to achieve
those goals.
What about success and failure? There’s certainly a lot of
to choose from there. Henry Ford said, “One who fears failure limits his
activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.”
And Washington Irving spoke on the subject saying, “Little minds are tamed and
subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.” And yet again, I’m
preaching to the choir. Hopefully, we understand that failure is OK, as long as
we learn from it and continue to improve. Plus, I seriously doubt there are any
“little minds” out there today.
By now, you should have a decent grasp on my quandary.
You’ve made my rare and valuable free time somewhat miserable these last few
weeks.
So, I decided that I should do what any brilliant writer,
speaker, or philosopher would do in my situation. But I had no idea what that
would be. So I went to the movies.
Now I must be honest, I didn’t actually physically go to the
movies – that’s a major outing on a teacher’s salary. No, instead I went there
in my mind. I love the movies - especially those that move me. I started mentally
searching my favorite movies for inspiration and I found quite a few that were
indeed inspiring.
Overcoming odds in Rudy;
Rudy!, Rudy!, Rudy!
Following your dreams in Field
of Dreams, which also teaches the importance of a game of catch with your
dad, or son (that part always chokes me up).
The power of love in What
Dreams May Come. We could talk about that for days.
In A Beautiful Mind
we learn about what is truly important in life and realize that things aren’t
always as they seem.
Freedom in Braveheart.
“They may take our lives, but they’ll never take away our…”
Forest Gump
teaches us that life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re
gonna get.
Morgan Freeman plays a judge in Bonfire of the Vanities and instructs us to be decent people, that
decency is what your grandmother taught you.
And then there’s Dead
Poet’s Society and Robin Williams – what an unbelievable actor – who taught
us about - carpe diem, sieze the day, make your lives extraordinary. I almost
stuck with that one.
But my mind wandered on to movies like
Talladega Nights
where Ricky Bobby shows us…well I’m not sure he shows us anything useful. Maybe
something to do with humor? I don’t know. But I know that laughter is
important, too.
Well, my mind was racing – nothing seemed to really work.
Then it hit me like brick. My favorite movie. My favorite movie of all time had
the message I was looking for. The movie? Joe
Versus the Volcano. No joke. It is my all-time favorite. For the 2 or 3 of
you who have never seen it, let me give you a quick overview.
This movie is the first of 3 that pairs Tom Hanks with Meg
Ryan. In the movie, Hanks plays hypochondriac Joe Banks, a man troubled by the drudgery
of a mundane existence and a dead-end job dimly lit with dull fluorescents that
suck the life right out of his eyes. At a doctor’s visit, Joe finds out that he
has a strange ailment known as a Brain Cloud and it has no cure. Soon after,
Joe is visited by an extremely wealthy business owner who challenges him to live
like a king and die like a man by jumping into a volcano to appease the gods of
the Waponi tribe on the tiny remote island of Waponi Woo. With only a few weeks
to live, Joe Banks accepts the challenge and meets a cast of interesting
characters en route to the island. One character is his (ahem) incredibly attractive
co-star Meg Ryan as Patricia Graynamore, captain of the yacht that is supposed
to provide passage. Needless to say, just like in their subsequent films - Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail – a love story emerges. I’m
not a spoiler so I’ll just say that ultimately, Joe learns how to live as the 2
travelers face their destinies.
On the surface, the movie appears to be a simple fairy tale,
when in fact it is an allegorical treat, full of symbolism, imagery, and surrealism
with witty heroes and a memorable supporting cast.
During the sea voyage as Joe and Patricia are getting to
know each other’s stories, Patricia makes a statement that has resonated with
me to this day and has ingrained itself into my very soul. Her good looks and
my subsequent crush back then had no bearing on this at all, mind you.
This is what she says:
“Almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know.
Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. Only a few people are awake, and they
live in a state of constant total amazement.”
So the challenge I have for us today is this: Be awake.
Life is amazing, a precious gift. I’m sure you’ve learned
some amazing facts about our universe during your educational careers. For
instance, last semester, one of your peers demonstrated to me and his
classmates that the speed of light can be measured with only a microwave oven,
a ruler, and a Hershey’s chocolate bar. Blew me away – amazing!
The hydra, close relative to the jellyfish, can grow its
body back in a couple of days if cut in half. What? Amazing!
There are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each
year. Do you feel that? Oh, it’s just my knees – never mind, false alarm.
The color blue causes the brain to release calming hormones.
Not sure what bearing that has on our athletic teams, whether it’s good or bad
- -probably depends on which coach you ask.
Of course, you being National Honor Society inductees
probably knew those amazing facts already. But to truly be amazed by life, every
day, we must be awake. We should strive to live our lives, not relive our past experiences and be fearful of
our futures. Patrick Loughlin likens the movie Joe Versus the Volcano to the levels espoused by the 19th
century existentialist philosopher Kierkegaard, where those who are truly awake
have moved through stages of awareness of life (now stay with me here) - from an aesthetic level, where life is
devoted to a specific exciting activity, to an ethical level, where life is
devoted to an abstract idea, to the final stage which is taking that leap of
faith, at which point, one can truly appreciate the significance of life.
Now, I can’t tell you how to be awake. I’m still figuring
that out myself. I do know that when the drudgeries of life seem to be sucking
the life out of me, I simply need to awaken. Have you ever gone outside at
night and stared up into the nighttime sky. It’s full of wonder. It’s hard not
to be amazed when you look up into the heavens at night. Did you know that
there are over a hundred billion galaxies out there? With each galaxy having billions
of stars? Sometimes I listen to the innocent and imaginative perspective of my
10 year old daughter. And often it makes me wonder, how does the world lose so
much beauty as we grow older?
My father and I were having a discussion by phone the other
day about a book he had just read and really liked. He said to me, “Wally –
(that name is not to be repeated after this) you are creative enough to write a
book like that. You’d be great at it.” I replied, “Yeah, Dad, that would be
great – a dream of mine even, but I just don’t have time and I have to pay the
bills.” His comment – “I know you’re too busy making a living to have a life.”
Now that’s a wake-up call.
I suspect that when we are truly awake, most, if not all, of
those traits mentioned earlier will tend to accompany us on our journey. We may
view things a little differently, though.
Instead of trying to be a success, we may try to be a value.
We may find that our inspiration is inspiring others.
Our goals may be a tad revised.
We may realize that devotion to something concrete may not
bring complete fulfillment because it can be taken from us.
Due to outside influences like guilt, deadlines, and
responsibility, we may conclude that devoting ourselves to our ability to
choose is not foolproof.
When we are awake, though, we may then devote ourselves to
something we know to be vulnerable, to overcome our fears and accept life and
its joyful and painful experiences; to take that leap of faith.
It’s easy to get lulled to sleep by the everyday necessities
of life, our habits, subconscious actions, responsibilities for survival and
existence. And I’m not saying to shirk those responsibilities. They are a
necessary part of life and will always be there, whether we’re simply making a
living or living our lives.
My challenge to you and to all of us is this - that we
should strive to be a value and an inspiration. Success will follow. We should
strive to live in a state of constant total amazement. Let us strive to be
awake. Be awake
Congratulations new inductees of the Lexington High School
Chapter of the National Honor Society. Continue to do well. Thank you Mrs.
Scurry and Mrs. Cormany for inviting my family and me here today. And thank you
families, peers, and students for your time and attention.
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