The Path to Inner Peace

With the daily grind of catching the school bus behind us, there is a strange quiet about the house now. In the past, the end of a school year was met with the pride of being one step further up the social ladder of high school. Now there is the excitement tinged with trepidation of "What should I do now?"

The guest speaker at our son's graduation was the Reverend Emery Thompson. His message to the students centered on the path to personal success while maintaining inner peace. It was a very pertinent subject for all of us. Too often we see people reach their mid-40's or 50's, have attained financial success yet wonder why they're not happy or why they haven't realized such success in their personal lives.

Reverend Thompson claimed that our lives will be content and full of inner peace if we live by two guidelines. Be truthful and show mercy in our lives.

Though we live in a seemingly cutthroat, dog eat dog world, he stressed that in the long run, those whose word can be trusted by being honest when stating what he intends to do, and then follows through by doing what he says he intends to do, will be truly successful. To be perseverant and responsible will pay off in the end.
I've often heard the expression "It's where you end up that counts, not how you got there." I doubt Rev. Thompson would agree with that. He really stressed the significance of good reputation and character. What we interpret as personal success for ourselves will naturally follow.

Living by the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", is of utmost importance if we want to have a clear conscience and sleep at night. The reverend pointed out that there will be many people throughout our lives who need our support and mercy as they struggle with their own mistakes, or our forgiveness if those mistakes harm us or others. We are told that we have no right to expect ourselves to be forgiven if we are reluctant to be the forgiver as well. Whether this refers to our forgiveness by God or our fellow man, it does make sense.

Reverend Thompson also made it clear to the students to never undervalue or underestimate their potential. He had a list of "greats" who started out in life as peons or the least of us in social or economic circles. Stressed was the importance of the confidence to be willing to fail before you can realize succeed. That is how we learn.

As these young adults take their first baby steps into the world of the unknown, I really hope they have the guts to get out of their comfort zones and be willing to flounder about at times without feeling like they failed.

As much as I'd love to always be there and know what is going on with my children, I also know their wings will never spread if I keep them in a cocoon.

My husband's words of wisdom have always been, "When in doubt, go for it! What's the worst that can happen?"
As a mother I think "plenty can happen" ....but we can't live in fear... so
"Go for it guys and fill in the pages of your life!"