Golden Graduation
Time flies when you are having fun!
I must have had a lot of it, because this caught me completely by surprise. 50 years already?
It was great seeing people that I had not seen for years. The best-looking people back in the day were showing a bit of age around the edges, but those that were not the best looking now looked fantastic! So, I know I was looking good, really good 😊.
This time, I graduated 1st in my class. Can you believe it took 50 years to realize the foolishness of lining people up according to GPA and start using the alphabet? There is a reason the “A” is the first and it is divine intervention that my last name starts with that inspired letter!
As I reflect on the years, so much has changed. So many myths have been debunked. So much dumb advice from a bunch of well-meaning old folk, like parents, teachers, family, friends and acquaintances, has proven to be among the wisest advice I have ever gotten. So many lessons have been learned, some the hard way.
Coming from a family of none drinkers, I somehow came to the conclusion that people who drank always ended up drunk and that was not a good thing.
Drinking for the first time and not turning into an idiot (or so I thought), led me to think that a little may not be all that bad. This was so ingrained that I began to believe that if a little was good, then a lot would be oh, so much better. Wrong ☹! Very wrong. Very, very wrong.
This was punctuated while working in law enforcement and watching people make bad decisions; thinking they were the funniest thing on the planet, that they had wisdom that far exceeded that of Solomon, and just making a pure fool of themselves.
Lesson learned. I don’t need it and I sure didn’t need as much as I was consuming. Alcohol is like lots of things in life, you control it or it controls you. If you must defend your use or control, you probably are not in control. Let it go!
Throughout my life, people offered advice, but I never appreciated it. As a kid, I just wanted to go play. As an older person, it was much the same. Why do you want to waste my time? What can you tell me that I don’t already know?
People would offer advice, because they cared enough to take the time, they cared enough to share something that money could not buy – wisdom!
I didn’t want to hear it. By getting older, and experiencing life, it became easy to see what I thought was a complete waste of time were actually pearls of wisdom, offered with love, compassion and concern for me and my future.
In other words, those who have walked the path I was on had and insight of what was on that road and bless those willing to share the knowledge!
One of the most valuable lessons learned in my many years on this planet is … now get this … I didn’t know everything. What was even harder to accept is that I never knew as much as I thought.
The greatest lesson learned is the sheer pleasure of service to others. A willingness to share with others, the courage to share and the excitement of watching the success of others!
50 years after graduation, so many pieces of the puzzle have been put into place that the picture is beginning to become clear and I look forward to each new day and the opportunity to share.
A journey of 50 years has changed focus, from one of being a great chemist to one of inspiring and instilling excellence and success in others!