This is for all those people who will be receiving their diplomas in the next few weeks:
Dear graduate,
You have the power to make your life anything you want it to be.
This may seem daunting and terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Let me assure you, it is the greatest gift you can receive.
You’ve gone through years of schooling. You’ve been trained in countless subjects. You’ve taken endless tests. You’ve written and debated and defended and modeled and competed.
Now you’re graduating, and the learning has only just begun.
With the help of a higher power, you have the ability to create anything. Just like the schools you’ve attended, this world provides classrooms, laboratories, stages and playgrounds everywhere you look.
From day to day, you may be the student, or you may be the teacher. But every moment will give you a choice: live from fear, or live from love.
The more you live from fear, the more difficult life will be.
The more you live from love, the more joyous and
peaceful life will be.
It sounds simplistic, but it’s true.
You’re going to have 70,000 thoughts a day, or 25,550,000 a year. Over the next 50 years, that means a mind-boggling 1,277,500,000 thoughts. Well over a billion.
And in every moment, it’s your choice. Will you use those thoughts to create, inspire, care, succeed and expand good in this world? Or will you use them to resist, destruct, isolate, criticize and wonder why life never works out the way you want it to?
This is not about judging yourself for any thoughts you have. But it IS about training your mind—starting now, no matter where you’ve been or what your past—to heal fear that keeps you stuck, and nourish love that will move you forward.
Your thoughts will determine the quality of your life and what you contribute while you’re here. With the proper use of your thoughts, you can get up in the morning feeling excited and go to bed at night feeling satisfied and fulfilled.
You can be kind and generous, knowing that you get to experience the best of life in every moment, every single day.
So celebrate the achievement of your graduation. And, at the same time, celebrate the start of a whole new world that YOU will create. It’s easy, really. Just start with this:
“Please heal my fear-based thoughts so I will always be guided by the power of Love,
allowing my life to be used for the highest good.”
Congratulations, and happy graduation. May you always remember one simple truth:
You are amazing.
