Education is not the total of all one is taught but the total of all one has learned. It is not the time spent, it is how the time is spent that makes these years worthwhile. No doubt, graduation from high school is a turning point in one’s life. Whether it is a positive or a negative change however, depends on the attitude one has when facing the future. The opportunity exists for all of us to succeed in whichever manner we choose. Time is our unifying resource and our most precious commodity. The knowledge we have gained in the past three years will be applicable in our future. We should learn where to apply this knowledge and experience in our lives.
Education is relevant to success. Success is a road to travel, not a place to reach. It can be had by anyone at any time. A successful person is one who keeps striving. One has infinite struggles; to succeed he must simply continue to accept the next challenge. An athlete does not necessarily have to break the ribbon to win. His success can be an improvement of time or just finishing.
“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” There is no risk in standing still…yet neither is their gain. Today is a day of decisions and a day of dreams. All people want their dreams to come true but some do not know what their dreams are. One can not expect his ship to come in if he has not sent one out. It is time to raise our sails.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Alas for those who never sing but die with all their music still in them.” We all have a song to sing, a thought ot share, a hope to cherish and a lifetime to fulfill our dreams.
In life, there are those who give and those who take; ultimately it is the givers who receive. Few discover the secret to experiencing the greatest aspect of life. True happiness comes through giving, service above self. It has been said that one is happy only wen he is contributing of himself. The truly contented are those who are dedicated to fulfilling the lives of others. It was perhaps best said in the Bible: “Do unto others the way you would have them to do unto you.”
The philosophy of putting service above self may seem to be one of self denial, yet that is not necessarily the case. It may seem contradictory, nevertheless, by putting the needs of others above his own needs, one receives more than he gives.
A beautiful story about giving and receiving was written by Harold Kohn in his touching book, The Tinsel and the Hay. A program entitled Santa Caluse Anonymous was established in New York to provide impoverished children with gifts to brighten their Christmas mornings. A thirteen-year-old boy struggled to collect pennies to donate to this noble cause. The day before vacation was a day of intense blizzards. Snow drifts piled high; school buses were stranded. Undaunted, the young boy trudged through the snow to present the fifteen cents he had collected to the school principal. Tears sprang to the eyes of the principal as he accepted the gift because he knew that the young boy was on the list of destitute children to receive a gift from Santa Claus Anonymous. Instead of receiving a material gift, this child received a far greater gift, the realization that he had the power to give.
The most precious gifts are often intangible, as demonstrated in this Eskimo saying: “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.” A service is a form of a gift, the greatest gift of all.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Victor Frankl may be the greatest authority on human behavior. He endured three years of almost unendurable torture in Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau. His book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” contains fascinating conclusions about survival. Contrary to the belief of Sigmund Freud, Frankl proves that human beings do not necessarily resort to “animal behavior” when deprived of food. Frankl discovered one common aspect of the survivors: Life was expecting something of them. “Life asks of every individual a contribution, and it is up to that individual to discover what it should be.”
Corrie Ten Boom is a survivor of those camps and the author of the book The Hiding Place. Corrie and her family harbored many persecurted Jews from the Nazis. As a result of this tremendous service to others, she lost her home, her family and almost her life. Corrie lost so much it owuld seem she had no more to give. Materially, she had nothing, as a human being, no one could be richer. Corrie is a loving, caring person whose will to live and will to give were strengthened by her almost unbearable experience. Through service above self it is true that one often denies himself of material possessions; however, what one gains through this denial is non-material and irreplacable.
An hold Hindu proverb states that “they who give have all things they who withhold have nothing.” No doubt it is through giving that one truly receives. Either on a small scale, a youngster with a few pennies to spare on a large scale, determining the quality and/or the existence of life, service above self, giving with no expectation is an investment not only in the lives of others but also for one’s self. To quote the popular artist, Flavia, “Each of us is important and has something to give. Listen to the music wihin you and believe in yourself. Don’t be afraid. Take the risk of living.”