Wisdom for Graduates

Have you seen the Subaru commercial where a father is giving driving advice to his elementary school-aged daughter while she sits in the driver's seat, fumbling with the seatbelt, her head barely level with the steering wheel?

"Just stay off the freeways, alright. I don't want you going out on those yet," the father says. "Just leave your phone in your purse. I don't want you texting." He hands her the car keys and suddenly she is a 16-year-old. "We knew this day was coming," the commercial's voiceover concludes.

As local students celebrate their graduation this spring, for many marking the transition whereby they head off on their own for the first time, their parents are probably wondering, "Where did the time go?" In their eyes, that graduate will always be their little girl or little boy.

Along with this transition often comes life advice for the graduate, perhaps because their parents feel like the window of time is closing on their opportunity to convey the wisdom of experience about life in the "real world." They want their children to avoid costly mistakes. They want them to be happy.

This is certainly nothing new. Every religion has, from ancient times until today, passed on bits of wisdom for everyday living. We hold dear and share with others the maxims of spiritual leaders and sacred texts that ring true about our life experiences. 

Mohandas Gandhi in his humility taught that "almost anything you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." The Hebrew Bible's book of Proverbs, compiled to teach young boys the virtues of wisdom, declares that "those who trust in their riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves."

In the tradition of passing on wisdom from generation to generation, I have compiled a list of advice from adults to graduates, shared in a spirit of love and in some cases, good humor:

1. If you're in school, don't skip class. If you're working, don't skip a day without good reason. If you do it once, it's easy to do it again and again.

2. No matter where you go or what you become, don't forget where you came from.

3. You may have been a big fish in a small pond, but there are always going to be bigger fish out there than you. Let them be who they are and you be who you are. Comparison is the thief of joy.

4. The kind of person you become is just as important as what you accomplish in the world.

5. Don't worry about what you want to be when you grow up. Most "grown ups" are still trying to figure out what they want to be.

6. Learn to appreciate the good things in life, like fine wine, good conversation and Bob Dylan.

7. Every day: turn off the TV, get away from the computer, take off your headphones. Get outside and listen to the sounds of nature.

8. There's a reason you have two ears and only one mouth.

9. Don't be afraid to ask others for help. You can't do it all yourself. And when you allow others to help you, it is an honor to them.

10. Okay, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren't real. We're sorry about that. But don't go throwing away everything your parents taught you to believe.

11. Find something you love to do and give it all you've got. But make sure you have enough to pay the rent.

12. Don't rack up credit card debt. It's easy to do, almost impossible to dig out of, and you can't expect someone else to pay it for you.

13. Surround yourself with good people. You know who they are.

14. Pray.

15. Don't take everything so seriously. You'll get an ulcer. Most things aren't as important as you think they are. Talk to someone who's really old and they'll help you keep things in perspective. You have to be able to laught at yourself.

16. On a wild night out, drink lots of water. Your body will thank you the next morning.

17. You are a beautiful person. If your friends/boyfriend/girlfriend make you think otherwise, ditch them.

18. You can go home, but you can never really go home.

19. Take time for yourself. It may take a lot of practice, but if you don't take care of yourself, you'll burn out and you won't have much to offer to others.

20. Seriously, don't drink and drive, text and drive, or whatever and drive. That's what legs and taxis are for.