Is this thing on?

I don't know about you, but I can't recall a single pearl of wisdom the commencement speaker shared with me and my classmates at my high school graduation. Some dude in a tie showed up and talked. That's all I know.

Let's have a show of hands. How many of you folks remember anything your high school commencement speaker said? Just as I figured. I'm not seeing a lot of fingers in the air. The reason for this is that most commencement addresses don't come with practical tips.

Oh sure, they give you lofty advice, such as go forth and prosper, which is nice...but worthless. Where's the real-life advice?

So with local high school graduations recently come and gone, I thought I should pass along my words of wisdom to our seniors, so they'll have some information they can actually use. Here's what I would tell 'em, if they had been lucky enough to have me as their speaker.

Ahem....

What people say is important for, in most cases, the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

The secret to being able to admit your mistakes is to do it soon. The longer it goes, the harder it gets.

Remember that getting a tattoo is like a snake: it's a lot easier to get it on you than it is to get it off you.

You can't choose the ways in which you'll be tested in this life, and nothing is as simple as we hope it will be.

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.

Lying is done with words but also with silence.

Leaving is easier than being gone.

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.

All people are a bundle of contradictions.

Generosity with strings is not generosity; it's a deal.

Sometimes memory is a seductive liar.

All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.

The tragedy of the second lie is that it is always easier to tell than the first, and those who tell white lies soon grow color blind.

The hardest learned lesson: people have only their kind of love to give, not our kind.

No matter how busy people are, they're never too busy to talk to you about how busy they are.

There is as much difference between us and ourselves as between us and others.

For some moments in life, there are no words.

There is an adrenaline that comes with attention that is seductive and dangerous. Be careful.

Remember not only to say the right thing at the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid that wrong thing at the tempting moment.

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Choosing between right and wrong is easy when the wrong in question virtually hisses its malevolence, and the good all but glows angelically. But most calls are far closer, often agonizingly so, and few of us live our lives by a scheme of ridigities that brooks no allowance for circumstances.

Rest satisfied with doing well and leave others to talk of you as they please.

Breathe....let go....and remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.