Graduates,
I am from the future and must reveal a few things to you ...

In the future you will say things.
Sometimes without words.
Sometimes with too many words.

In the future you will eat food!
Some of you, sometimes, will actually pause and enjoy it.

It’s been said that if you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head, you are richer than 75% of the world.

Yet, you can have all that and have very little if you do not understand time as a gift.

The future is packed with moments.
With breaths. With heartbeats.
(I can’t tell you how many. That would be irresponsible of me.) I can say, though:

There is so much you can do with a life. So much.

In the future, you’ll begin to think about your tombstone and some might ask for something impressive on it. Something like:

DOGS AND CHILDREN LOVED THIS PERSON

Your loved ones, though, will realize letters on tombstones can get pretty expensive...

So yours just says:
LIVED

And some days? Ah... you really will live.

The future is full of shining moments and less shiny too.
Miracles happen every day
and one of them is you.

You’ll have opportunities to be better,
but won’t always be it.

You’ll be surrounded by magic,
but won’t always see it.

Fellow travelers through time,
I don’t mean to spoil it,
but I hope this is clear:
The future can be brighter
simply because you are here.

To the future.

This is adapted from a real commencement speech I delivered a few years ago at Keuka College in NY. You can see the talk here:

Youtube -

IGTV - https://www.instagram.com/tv/BxdslSMHTsv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

To this year’s graduates:
Your understanding of just how connected we all are and how much we matter to each other could make you one of the most compassionate and creative generations we’ve seen yet. May it be so.

Finally, to ALL my fellow travelers through time:

I cannot wait to see the future we all write together.

To the future!