Life Advice to a Graduate

This week is one that I have been both dreading and looking forward to for a long time. It seemed like it was a long way out even up to this fall. Yes, this week, my daughter, my youngest child will graduate from high school. Last year I was talking to the parent of young children and she said it would be forever before her youngest graduated from high school. It isn’t forever and, it happens in a flash so forgive me if I am a little melancholy.

Yes, this week we will celebrate Tatum graduating from high school. Please allow me a proud dad moment. I am so proud of the young adult Tatum has become and all that she has accomplished in her four years of high school. While I am excited about what she has done in high school I am even more excited about what is to come.

Her journey through high school took several twists and turns that none of us saw coming. Some of them were good and took her places she could not have imagined, and others were challenges. I am so proud of what she accomplished whether that was serving as a District FFA Officer or being part of an FFA livestock judging team that won the state championship. Tatum had a pretty good run through high school.

The challenges were also important. Injuries that slowed or sidelined her athletic career led her to new paths that ultimately will help her the rest of her life. Other challenges made her a tougher, more self-assured leader who is not afraid to speak her mind and share her opinion. She became unwavering in her beliefs even when sticking by them was not the easiest thing to do. These challenges and set backs were important to help mold the successful, confident young leader that will be moving on to college.

As Tatum moves on to the next chapter in her life I thought about things I have learned through challenges and successes since high school that I should share with her and with every high school graduate. I am often reminded of the old saying, “we learn through experience and much of it bad experiences.”

My first piece of advice is that relationships with other people are the most important part of life. Our entire lives are formed and molded around those relationships. Not all of them will be good, the trick in life is learning how to deal with difficult people. The joy in life is learning how to appreciate the positive, good relationships and to make sure and nurture them and allow them to grow. Life is all about the people around you and the relationships you cultivate.

Enjoy the journey. Too many people see life as getting from point A to point B in a straight line and as quickly as possible. Its not. Life is a crooked trail of unexpected experiences, unintended detours and times you are broken down alongside the road. Enjoy the journey and don’t look past the unexpected detours and stops, many times they are the best experiences.

Take time to enjoy the journey too. Life is a distance race and not a sprint. Too often we get in sprint mode and only end up exhausted. Find out what makes you happy and spend time with those who are a part of that happiness and do what makes you happy. Also remember that down time is OK, in fact, it is needed. Always make time for yourself and make time to relax. What good is life if we spend it running and working all the time.

Finally, and most importantly, take time to get recharged spiritually. College is a place where your beliefs will be tested. Sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly, but rest assured your faith will be tested. When you are tested, and life becomes difficult always remember to turn back to God, nothing is too big or too hard for him. It is easy to allow your faith to take a backseat and slip away during college, faith is like a muscle and it must be exercised daily.

I know all of this is much to sappy but what I would give to go back and start over knowing then what I know now. No, I would not. I have enjoyed this crazy ride since high school. Some of it I am glad not to relive while most I can only categorize as I am incredibly blessed. The journey Tatum is about to embark will include some of the best yeas of her life and will transform her in ways that none of us can predict.

Yes, this next week will be bittersweet, this entire year has been. All I know for sure is that I am incredibly proud of the confident, smart, poised adult she has become. Jennifer and I could not be more excited about what she will do, where she will go and the person she will become. Congrats to Tatum and all of the graduates out there, the best is yet to come.