Graduations and Life

Life is full of graduations, most of them not formal events, but personal achievements - stepping stones from one level or skill to the next.  One step at a time.
Each step may not seem like much, but it is progress, the forward motion, that counts.  Over time, we can look back along the path and realize how far we have come.
The speech quoted below is from our daughter's high school graduation speech last June (valedictorian, proud mom!).  I thought it would be fitting to include parts of it here, as a marker for her to think how far she has come in the last year, and as a reminder to all of us to think about our stepping stones and our dreams yet ahead.




     Many graduation speeches might begin with “We made it!” or “This is it!” But, in truth, this is just the beginning. As an artist, I like to look at this as a drawing. We’ve completed the outline, now it’s time to shade in the details of our lives. Our younger years have given us the footing we need to move ahead in life and be successful. High school graduation is not the end of the road, but merely a stepping stone in the long walk called life.

     We have our entire future to discover ourselves and build our lives. Whether we’re going to college, joining the military, or just joining the workforce we’re all stepping out on our own paths. Throughout high school and our younger years our lives have been pretty similar, growing, getting into school, moving up from grade level to grade level. But now it’s time for us to step off the path and forge our own way, leave our own foot prints, and decide where our path is going to take us.

...Now we can take the lessons we’ve learned, and show the world what we can do! It is time for us to start our own lives, learn our own lessons, make our own marks on the world, and discover who we are!

     I’d like to end this with an amazing quote I heard by Brad Paisley: “Visualize what you want out of life with all your might. Close your eyes and build it in your mind. If you want to be an architect, visualize the things you want to build. If you want to be a songwriter, visualize the effect your music will have on the audience. That’s what I do. If you don’t dream about what you want, it will never come true.” So let’s not only start dreaming, but make our dreams a reality! 

Good luck to everyone and God Bless You! 

Her blog is: littlebitzofart.blogspot.com
Her website: littlebitzofart.deviantart.com