Congratulations graduates of 2011

Congratulations, you are about to start on a brand new adventure. Since I can barely change my own pants, I am the last person to give advice. I can tell you a story, though ...

Whenever a baby elephant begins its training process, it is restrained using a very sturdy rope, one that could hold back a baby elephant. Faced with this situation, the elephant begins struggling repeatedly to free itself from it's bonds. It doesn't know that it can' t possibly get loose. It doesn't have the experience to know what the rope is trying to do to it, so it valiantly continues the struggle. Day after day, week after week, the young elephant continues to strain against the end of it's tether. Then one day, it begins to realize that no matter what it does, it will not be able to break free. The baby elephant learns not to struggle – it accepts that the limit imposed by the rope or chain is permanent, and there is no use struggling against it.. As the elephant grows up, the rope that once held him as a baby, hold it only by the limits of the elephant's mind. For that elephant, the rope in its mind remain, and so the rope on its leg can never be broken. And the elephant gave up trying to do this a long time ago.



People can easily identify with that young elephant from time to time; eager with the possibilities of life, not knows the limits of their experiences. Unfortunately, most of us encounter our own ropes . These are in the form of the people we meet that say things which imply you can t possibly do that , you' re not good enough , or that' s for other people . Unfortunately we tend to believe them because many times these people are our friends, family or even parents who struggle with their own ropes of oppression. Some just can' t stand seeing someone else break free, because that would then force them to face their own inadequacies. So they come up with excuses for why others could break free - they obviously must have cheated, gotten lucky, or had connections.



We are all limited by the constraints that exist in our own minds. Some of us just have a few less ropes to deal with than others. So before you are bound to life's rope, remember to always struggle, pull against the ties that bind you. Break free to achieve your full potential.



Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.

And be kind to your feet, you're not an elephant.