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Midland Daily News, 6/24/05
June is the month of graduations.
People finish a level of education and are graduated to the next level. There
are even kindergarten graduations! But the one I am writing about today is
graduation from high school. What a momentous moment this is for all of the
graduates and their families.
One of the
graduation events is Commencement. Whereas the word graduation implies something
ending, the word commencement points to a beginning. Simply put, it is the
beginning of the rest of their lives. It’s hard to appreciate that fully at age
18, but it is so easy to appreciate that at my age, near retirement.
I remember being rather naïve
when I was 18, having lived a somewhat sheltered life up to that point. I thought
I could live in an unchanging world for the rest of my life. Then I would be
happy.
In contrast to that, I have
learned over the years one incontrovertible and paradoxical truth:, the only constant in life is change. Trying to hold on
without changing is like staying on board a boat that is headed for the
Changes come in
all sizes and shapes. Some
changes are foisted upon us without us having any say about it at all. They
could be something as simple as a minor accident that causes us to think
differently about our lives or as challenging as the death of a spouse or
child. As much as we would like to think we have control over the events of our
lives, many events just happen. In fact, someone once said that life is what
happens when things don’t go they way you planned.
Other changes come about through choices we make during our lives. Only time tells for sure whether those choices were good or bad or
perhaps a mixture of both.
These choices revolve around the way we live. The way we live
incorporates physical, mental, intellectual, vocational, emotional, and
spiritual aspects. It is important to keep all these in balance.
For an 18 year old full of energy and enthusiastic about the future that
lies ahead, it may be difficult to think about balance, because much of their
energy and enthusiasm is directed toward a career, either advanced schooling or
entering the job market right away. Putting balance in life usually comes with
experience.
Yet it is this very energy that can put a person’s life out of balance.
The focus can be so directed toward a job or career that one forgets to
seek a fulfilling vocation – a job or career that utilizes a person’s gifts and
is rewarding. Worst of all, a person
with too much focus on a job will be devastated when the job is lost through
downsizing, outsourcing, or firing.
A proper emphasis on the physical aspect of life will result in perhaps
averting health problems
like obesity from eating too much, cirrhosis of the liver from
drinking too much alcohol, or heart problems from not enough exercise.
Stimulating our mental skills through reading for work and pleasure
enhances our ability to engage in political and civil discourse. A democratic
society requires the participation of everyone.
Emotional maturity doesn’t just happen for most people. It requires
regular examination of our emotions and feelings to see if we are in touch with
them and handling them adequately. Many adults are emotional cripples, unable
to express their feelings even to their spouses and children.
Spiritual development doesn’t end in childhood when we quit any formal
religious education. In fact, what we learned as a child helped us as a child,
but as adults we need to seek out opportunities to enhance our spiritual
growth. Without this, life’s challenging moments will be especially difficult.
I didn’t learn about keeping these all in balance until just a few years
ago. I’m still working at it, but these are all much more prominent in my life
than they used to be. I wish the new graduates a life time of balance and
opportunity for enrichment in all aspects of life, no matter what comes up.