GRADUATION SPEECH 2008

On the first day of term, a university professor stood in front of his philosophy class with an empty jar.

Without saying a word to his students, he removed the lid of the jar and filled it with golf balls. When no more golf balls fit he closed the jar with its lid. He then asked his class, “Would you say that the jar is now full?” His students observed the jar and concluded that the jar was indeed full.

The professor then proceeded to open the jar up and started inserting marbles into the jar. The marbles started to fill the gaps between the golf balls. After sealing the jar, he asked his class once again if they thought the jar was now full. The class concluded that the jar was indeed now full.

The professor opened the jar a third time and started pouring in sand. Obviously, the sand started filling the gaps between the golf balls and the marbles. He then sealed the jar and asked his class a third time if the jar was full. His class chuckled and replied in unison, “Yes, it is now full!”

The professor opened the jar and emptied two small cups of coffee in the jar. The liquid had completely filled the gap between the golf balls, the marbles, and the grains of sand. He then began his lecture.

“I hope you realise that life is very much like this jar. The golf balls represent the important things in life, like God, family, loved ones, health, things that you care intimately about. If we lost everything else in life, our lives would still be ‘full’. The marbles are the other things in our lives that are important, but our happiness shouldn’t depend on them. Things like our work, our house, our car, etc. Finally, the sand represents everything else; the small stuff.

“If we were to have filled our jar up with sand first, there we wouldn’t have had enough room for the marbles or the golf balls. If we use all our life and energy on the small stuff, we won’t have any room for the important things.”

After a brief moment of silence one of the students asked, “Professor, what does the coffee represent?”

“Ah, I’m glad you asked,” replied the professor. “It means that no matter how full your life is, there is always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.”

So what is important in life? Is it having a crocodile on your shirt? Or having a tick on your tennis shoes? Is it getting a 10 for Maths? Or reciting the first 200 digits of p from memory? Is it being the best looking girl in the class? Or the hottest guy? We live in a world in which we are being told every day, every minute, what we need, what we want, what will make us happy. We are made to feel inadequate, incomplete, lacking in whatever it is that is being sold to us as the key to our happiness. We are made to believe that success is measurable in terms of what we have rather than what we are. Western society sends the constant message that fair is beautiful and then develops a multi billion dollar tourist industry to help us get a tan, which in turn begets another multi billion dollar industry to cure the resulting skin cancer. Can there be any greater irony than that? Perhaps there is. We have the tobacco industry. Let’s be clear about this – SMOKING KILLS. But, it is legal; in fact it is an essential element of our economy. Governments rely on the revenue from tobacco sales for their public spending – on hospitals to deal with smoking related diseases, amongst other things. The minister of health in the UK refused to say which way she would vote when the ban on smoking in restaurants and clubs was being debated – THE MINISTER OF HEALTH! Was she – the minister of health – not sure about the dangers of smoking? Did she not consider, in her position, that reducing the single greatest public health threat at a stroke was something that she should be trying to achieve? She said she would listen to the arguments on each side of the debate – WHAT? A politician who listens to what other people say? PLEASE! She was scared, scared that her constituents might not vote for next time round. She compromised not only what she knew to be right, but what was her obligation as minister of health – to convince others to take the decisions necessary to improve the quality of life of British people – out of self-interest. But don’t worry. All is not lost. We always have Walt Disney to help us feel the magic. Yes, you can pay hundreds of dollars to spend all day standing in lines of irritable, overheated, oversized people in order to enjoy a few minutes of terrifying adrenalin overdose, punctuated by supersized, carbohydrate laden meals and the opportunity to spend even more dollars on things that you neither need nor want, but cannot do without. And we all convince ourselves (and I include myself) that this is HAPPINESS!

You are probably wondering where all of this is going. I started out by asking what is important in life. I have given a few examples of how distorted and misplaced our values have become. We live in a world that is sick and dying, not because we lack the resources or the knowledge to make it healthy but because we lack the will. Today, you leave this school as young adults with an enormous responsibility on your shoulders – to stand up for what you really believe in, what you KNOW to be right, what will lead to the true happiness that comes with recovering the humanity that is hidden within us under the layers of designer image thrust onto us by a consumer obsessed society; to challenge the not-so-young adults like myself who stand here lecturing you to set a better example; to connect with your fellow human beings and enjoy the true happiness of being (remember there is always time for a cup of coffee with a friend); and above all to continue the eternal journey of self-discovery that gives real meaning to life itself. I hope that you have been prepared by your education so far, at least to some small degree, to face and accept these challenges. I have watched you grow up over the years, some of you since you were born, others since you were in Kindergarten. You are a group of people with an exceptional capacity to give and to love your fellow human beings. You have extraordinary warmth and generosity in your hearts. I feel proud to honoured to include you amongst the ex-students of this school and I have great faith that you will contribute, as some of you already have, to changing the lives of your fellow human beings for the better.

I will close with some quotations from Maya Angelou, poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, who has captivated audiences and readers throughout the world.

· No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

· You can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

· Regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

· Making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.

· Life sometimes gives you a second chance.

· You shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

· Whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

· Even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

· Nothing will work unless you do.

· Troubles are a blessing that force you to change, to believe.

· If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

· Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

· If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.

· If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers.

· Every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

· People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

· If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

Thank you, have a great day. The next song is dedicated to all of you.