Pearls of wisdom: unpolished advice
Cue “Pomp and Circumstance,” because it’s graduation season. I’ve been riding the party train all month (eight days). I’ve been up in Ohio for Kent State’s commencement, where my niece Chloe grabbed her diploma. I went to a high school graduation party for my cousin’s kid, Natalia, and my nephew, Conner, graduated from preschool. I’m celebrating every level of education.
Side note: I don’t know when we decided that graduating from preschool should be a momentous event, but I’m here for it. I will attend a party of any size. The revelers for preschool were tiny, the shy ones, the criers, and the kids who were living their truth.
But I digress, like I do. Amid graduation season, I thought it would be a great time to dispense advice to young, hopeful graduates. Think of me as a guru on a mountaintop, a hairier Buddha.
Mistakes will happen. Take it from the leading authority on mistakes. I make miscalculations, missteps, and misconceptions daily. The trick about any mistake is in how you handle it. You must move past it. You must pick yourself up, literally and figuratively, and move forward. I am often literally picking myself up again, because I fall a lot. I think my new tennis shoes are half an inch too big in the toe.
I’m not just hitting the sidewalk face-first. I am making some verbal stumbles as well. Think before you speak. I’ve heard a rumor that some people do that.
Dear graduates, handling your mistakes with dignity and grace is a wonderful skill. You can learn it and teach it to me.
Be positive. Your attitude will get you far. I have been able to rise above the aforementioned mistakes with an optimistic outlook. A sheepish smile might even save you when you sneeze and accidentally knock down a shelf of glassware at Target. It could have been a thousand-dollar mistake, but a smile and a sincere apology could save you. Let’s call that a hypothetical scenario (please, don’t try to verify the facts at the South Hills Village Target store).
Learn every day. Dear graduates, you might think that after graduation, you don’t have to learn anything new. Nothing can be further from the truth. You must learn something new as often as you can. Things like, “Buying the right-sized tennis shoes can keep you from tripping in the middle of a busy street,” and “Don’t stand next to a display of glass ornaments in a store when you have a summer cold.”
Make new friends. It’s important to meet new people, especially those who don’t know you’re a bumbling klutz (just me, then?).
Touch grass. Every spring, I like to take off my oversized tennis shoes and walk on the lawn. I feel connected to the Earth. I’m a lot closer to it than other people because of the continual falling.
Expand your library. Read for knowledge, but don’t forget to read for fun. Consider buying books with my name on the cover.