I have a book entitled Positive Thinking Every Day that sits next to my bed. While I wrote this speech back in April, I skipped forward in the book a bit to today’s date. I was slightly weirded out by how fitting the thought was for today. The positive thought of June 4th read, “The world in which you live is not primarily determined by outward conditions and circumstances, but by thoughts that habitually occupy your mind.” The way we carry ourselves and live our lives shows more about us than the things we’ve done. Things that happened during our time here at West do not necessarily define us. There is so much more to life than going to parties every weekend or being the most popular person in school. It may seem important at the moment but as the great author C.S. Lewis once said, “There are far greater things ahead than any we leave behind.” What makes our future so great is that it’s up to us. We determine our outcome by being the best version of ourselves we can be. It’s what is inside of us that counts. Not the things we’ve done, but rather how we accomplished those things. Inside every person here is something great.
While everyone has had ups and downs in their life, the way we handle the situations that go on in our lives determine the type of person we become. I once heard a quote talking about the way people treat their problems. It said something along the lines of, “If you spend all your time blaming the world, the world wins.” We only have ourselves to blame for the outcome of our lives. Blaming the world isn’t going to solve anything, it’s just going to make things seem worse. We become what we think. Positivity is key to a bright and successful future. A friend of mine, someone that I admire and look up to (both figuratively and literally) said to me once that we are only given one opportunity to live. He explained that “it could end in 60 years, it could end tomorrow. Always seize every day and always look at the positive side of things. Try to make the most of your days, every day.” He’s right about our chances. We can’t live everyday worrying about little things, we have to take control of what is inside of us. Our actions are not what we become. Our thoughts and ideas are. We are the ones that hold the key to unlocking a new life. A quote from Stephen Chbosky reads, “So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things.” (Perks of Being a Wallflower, 1999). We all have a power within us to change and make the person we are on the inside match the person we are on the outside. We choose the way our cards are dealt through positivity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, an extremely successful and well known poet and lecturer, did not stand out in his class. In fact, his rank was in the middle of his other 59 classmates come graduation. Emerson strongly believed in individualism – an idea that supports the strong worth of an individual person. He knew that he could achieve everything he dreamed for if he just believed in himself and his own personal value. His famous quote, “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you” is proof that Emerson himself believes in each living individual’s potential to overcome past and future experiences with what lies within the soul. We all feel at times that we may not be worth much but we can’t let these false thoughts overpower us. Who we are inside is what matters most. My friend asked me one day, “Does it matter what other people think of you? Or is it more important what you think of yourself?” The answer is always what you think of yourself. Each and every person has something amazing inside of them. We need to show off what lies inside of us to become the great person we all can be. So take that one opportunity of life that you’ve been given and live it. Don’t concern yourself with the problems of others. Be unique. Be you. Do all things with a positive outlook on life. Wake up in the morning and decide you are happy. It’s as simple as that. The future is what we make it. It’s up to us. It’s up to what lies inside of us. Remember, “It’s not an ending; it’s a fresh start” (Mad Men, 2008).
devon west 