Transcript: Commencement to Write. Ten Years in Ten Minutes.
This speech was likely never meant to be heard. Fortunate for you, 10 minutes of speaking is about 5 minutes of reading. It was not until I spent the previous year writing The Burntout Story, did I think much about graduating high school, just ten years ago. The scope of life ten years ago is not what it is now. For example, I thought during my senior year of high school; I was going to be a Warehouse Manager for Costco. Soon after, I realized I was not a corporate person.
Throughout my life, I have always asked myself questions. While working for Costco, I set out on a voyage; to get my associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. I couldn’t imagine the number of obstacles; necessary for me to be where I am today. To be retained in both grade school and graduate school on behalf of the professional setting depleted much of my childhood and initial career to be a School Counselor. These setbacks felt like punishment.
Laying out The Burntout Story was an overarching factor in sacrificing much of my younger years; in search of inner peace. The opportunity to showcase my past through writing; effectively gave me fewer thoughts of regret about my education and more life today to rejoice. I even put myself on strike; to give myself a future I deserved. As much as I preferred to graduate with my master’s degree in 2020, the way I converted my education with an additional year of internship into The Burntout Story; has shown life to be more fulfilling.
Just because the writing has been extensive, doesn’t mean life and time have stopped. Thankfully, there has been more upswing from the takeaways and writing journey while incorporating a more God-Driven life. My retention in second grade; lead to four years of Summer School, three years of Saturday Academy, and two years of afterschool programs. As an adult, I couldn’t fathom the idea of pursuing religious education. Meanwhile, this year, I completed the (RCIA) Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults; on Sundays after work and church. The Scrutinies, Rite of Election, and Easter Vigil to get Baptized felt like more of a celebration; than when I finally got my master’s degree.
Refusing to quit forced me to improve my understanding of life through persistence, patience, and faith; all essential but not limited to converting the intangibles to existence. I am fortunate to recognize the evolution of myself, transitioning into the next chapter of my life. Reflecting on my past might be considered my life’s turning point.
It is tough to say I would do this over again. Instead, it was God to remind me of how grateful I am; for never letting my life education diminish. The further I explained my past, the additional processing happened during the reflection process. Every day feels like disbelief, but God shows a lot more is possible when you believe in yourself, no matter the opposition.
Learning how to self-reflect through most of my adulthood; elevated my life perspectives. Self-reflecting opened a lot of portals in areas I would not have considered credit for in the first place. My appreciation for this has shown me additional pieces to my life I would have suppressed otherwise.
The opportunity to be in this position today; is beyond my belief. I also learned how easy it is for the professional setting to get away with a lack of accountability. Experiencing this myself; revealed an unwillingness to accept others’ lack of effort as my future. The difference between an adult and a child; is who lives in denial. There are a lot of adults who have not addressed their past. Previous generations suffer from the toxic chain reaction of dismissing self-care. Time is an understatement for the reality of present; and potential future. To waste time internally and externally is spiritually degrading. Consider tomorrow more promising; if you are willing to give it your best. You can replicate a pattern that fulfills your passions.
My interactions with coworkers, members and higher education have vastly contributed to my value for life. Through personal experiences and education, I acknowledge the need to promote universal mental health support services. One of the greatest favors you could do for yourself is to write. Technology has allowed writing to exist on many platforms. Grammarly is one writing platform; that can efficiently assist this process. You deserve to live life more on your terms, and not consumed by the past or present restricting thoughts. The potential for growth mindsets exists; within all of us.
Every moment is an experience. An experience provides a perspective takeaway to exist. Takeaways gear you for the next adventure. Although my time with Costco is coming to an end, I look forward to the next adventure I set out for myself. Costco’s pay and benefits financially assisted me enough to stay afloat while persevering after multiple obstacles. I spent a third of my life with Costco. My life would not seem as hopeful; if I had never worked for Costco. I was fortunate to interact in large and close-knit departments. Everyone had a personal story. Learning to be an adult sooner in life; can leave anyone feeling like the hand they were dealt was rigged.
Like my setbacks, you may not experience financial freedom as soon as you hope. However, if you continue to put yourself out there, opportunities to advance will make themselves available to you. Acknowledge your strengths; to apply them to areas in need of improvement. Become a workaholic for the best self-care version of yourself.
Learn why something triggers your mindset, and not expect the world to cater to any irrational feelings. Take ownership of your mistakes and faults. Being petty breeds resentment for an excuse to acknowledge an area of growth on your behalf. Nor is weaponizing incompetence acceptable for lack of acknowledgment of individual accountability. Wish everyone well on their journey. After all, you are on a journey also.
In a way, the writing was an example of the journey’s value being equal to or greater than the destination itself. Be prepared to be amazed at your potential with exponential effort to make every day worth the time and energy. To be skeptical of a better tomorrow; is to short-change your strength in faith that you possess greatness.
You can occupy your mind with thoughts that you want in your head. Everyone has thoughts of their own. Write about life then, now, and tomorrow. The journey exists through the past, present, and future. The collaboration with those on your journey; will bring your further than you can imagine. God has provided enough enrichment of life around me to make the journey worth sharing. Without the goodwill of people, humanity is lost. That means a lack of direction. We could be experiencing that now, or we could be heading to worse places.
Anyone who feels like they missed a past window of opportunity, forget tomorrow can still be worth an effort. If today is the day to become the best version of yourself, then full stride to becoming your best self. If you haven’t started writing yet, today is the day. If you haven’t written in the past month, get back to it. You will always reduce clutter in your mind by writing. Your existence itself is worth writing to yourself.
If you feel intrigued to write or unsure about that process, follow the unpopular counselor on Medium, Instagram, Twitter, and my new Twitch stream account. Learn how to process at your own pace. Give yourself that favor. Experience the luxury of what your mind can offer you. Create steps within each goal; to ensure you don’t short-change your chances of accomplishing them in a timely manner. Among each step, process the growth made from within. Education can come in many forms; I hope I can be one of them to gear your mindset to make it to the finish line of your goals. Thank you.
