Are you ready to graduate? It’s that time of year again where people are graduating from a variety of educational levels. I just attended pre-school graduation and let me tell you, when all those littles threw their caps in the air, it was a sight to be seen. Graduation day is filled with anticipation, excitement, and anxiety of the unknown ahead, perhaps not for the pre-schoolers, but for others graduating. There are the congratulations, the parties, and then the feeling of what’s next enters.
Some fully know what their next steps are and continue moving toward them. Others are still figuring it out. Then there are those like me, who knew what they want, went for it, and yet life turned out completely different than planned. When I graduated from high school, I knew exactly what I wanted. I was unsure how to make it a reality but I wanted to do public relations for the St. Louis Cardinals. I studied communications/public relations and got an internship in PR for their minor league team. I was on my path, yet I didn’t realize then, that life is a journey, not a destination.
At 18 my destination was St. Louis working with my beloved Cardinals. I never reached that destination. My journey was filled with experiences that could be perceived as a lack of self-confidence, failed relationships, or unfulfilling jobs. Yet during those years of discovering who I always was, there was plenty of LOVE and laughter mixed in. I don’t regret one moment of self-doubt, my heart is broken, or any fear-based choices I made as each moment brought me further clarity. Each experience gave me the opportunity to define who I was and who I was becoming. Had past boyfriends worked out, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Had past jobs been great opportunities for me, I wouldn’t be leading an organization I was born to lead.
So, whether you are graduating from high school, college, a job, or graduating from a relationship that wasn’t working, know each step is part of your overall journey and doesn’t define you as a success or a failure. Each chapter opening or closing allows you to take a deeper look at what is important in your life and move forward in LOVE.
Moving forward, I invite you to graduate into your highest self by:
Seeing every experience through a lens of LOVE; the good, the bad, and the ugly all offer you an opportunity to LOVE life bigger.
Appreciating the challenges, you go through is simply an opportunity to refocus on what you value in life rather than focusing on fear. Appreciation is easy when life is showing up in celebratory ways, so dig a little deeper and appreciate all of you.
Mostly my wish for you is to realize wherever your journey in life takes you, it’s filled with great opportunities to LOVE and live full out. Become a doctor. Become a janitor. Become a mom or a dad. Become what brings you the greatest happiness as the world is a happier place when you are happy.
Until next time, congratulations on your well-deserved journey.
Affirmation:
Each day I graduate deeper into living my highest self.
Words to LOVE by:
“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” ~ Antole France
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
~ Winston Churchill
