I love this time of year. All those motivating commencement speeches cropping up on the Internet. I can’t remember a single word that was said when I graduated with my B.S. in 1985. I do, however, remember the commencement speech at Harvard when I received my Master’s Degree eight years ago. Primarily because the young man who gave it described not his own accomplishments–which were many–but those of his classmates. He couldn’t understand how he had earned the honor to address his graduating class when there were far more deserving superstars out there in the audience. His humility and grace were beautiful. And magnetic. And I wanted to grow up to be just like him.
Walt and I watched Naval Admiral William McRaven give this speech to the graduating class of 2014 at University of Texas. Talk about a show stopper.
Seriously, this guy makes me want to become a Navy Seal. And the crap they make folks go through is gruesome.
All that being said. If you are standing at the starting line of a new chapter and you’re not sure which way to go, if you’re summoning the courage to take on something big, hairy, and audacious, you’ll want to watch this.
Once you get your own attitude sorted out, show it to your kids.
