Speech: To-Morrow and To-Morrow and To-Morrow

While trying to clear some space and sorting out my files on the laptop I decided to upload a few of my speeches. 

SECONDARY SCHOOL PRIZEGIVING

Firstly I want to say that I always appreciate the opportunity to speak to you all. I want to say thank you to Mrs. Coetzee for giving me this opportunity and it is really quite clear how hard she works, toiling day and night to put these functions together.

Also I would like to say thank you to our new principal Mr. McCarthy for joining us, may his guidance keep us steady for many years.

But now to the matter at hand. I’m going to interrupt your regularly programed schedule, called life to tell you all how awesome you are. Hope that’s okay – even if it’s not I’m going to do it anyway.

We are all here to celebrate the incredibleness that is you. In the past year you all worked so hard and tonight is where other people tell you so, but more importantly tonight is for you.

This night is where you can sit back, think on your work and know it was good. The trophies, scrolls, certificates and other assorted accolades will certainly help with that as long as you realize that it shouldn’t end here nor that these accolades is a sum of your worth.

You are standing on a pivot-point of change. You will hold majorities, make decisions, you will do to the hiring and the firing, you will decide on policy, you will be the force of progress. You will hold the keys to the kingdom. Take time to learn, to think, to feel, about where you have come from and decide where it is that we are all going.

You will go on to do great things I know because you are all warriors for the working day, for life and change and challenge and a future full of wondrous moments. 

In preparation for the days to come please allow me to offer some advice.

Firstly, don’t let fear and anger control the decisions that you make. When you are faced with times where you need to make a decision then try not to make decisions out of fear. If you need things – company, love, status, success – because you fear being without them, you will become a scared little kid bobbing down a river grabbing at anything that looks slightly capable of floating. This is not a good position from which to make a decision. The noise of your own fear will drown out the sound of what you really want.  

As for anger, anger can be good. I see a few people shaking their heads. When you see something that is wrong, get up, get angry and do something about it. Anger can be a driving force for change, for good. As long as you don’t let anger determine the person you wish to be. It’s easy to lash out at others. On long and difficult days, when a multitude of things have gone wrong it becomes easy to just let loose. But making anger your first response holds little value after extended use.

Take action. If there is something you want then take the steps needed to get there. You have been educated to think, to argue, to offer a balanced argument. Wield these like weapons and you’ll never be out of ammo.

And you should dream too. Big exciting dreams – dreams about the future about success and adventure, dreams about going somewhere, experiencing new things, different cultures, getting lost in Tokyo, language confusion when ordering a Russian in China. Getting on the wrong bus and inadvertently joining a communist party for two weeks. 

But dreaming about these things will not make them happen. Buy the plane ticket, open the savings account and put money in it.

Somedays it is going to feel like life is kicking you in the teeth and then life goes down to the local pub and brag to all your friends about it just for good measure. This is going to happen. There is no escaping it. There will be days of pain, but suffering is optional. Sometimes we fall, we fail. But we keep trying. It takes courage to keep going in the face of adversity. We try, we fail. We try again, we fail better. Because in the end the only failure that we can’t come back from is when don’t learn and improve because of it.

We learn the greatest lessons from failure. It’s not until you go to university to become an astrophysicist – and drop out again - that you become a world famous chef, it isn’t until you get sacked from the city job you’d gone into to be safe that you realise safety – to you – actually means a houseboat and a social enterprise start-up, it isn’t until you run to the hills with your accordion and a bunch of hippies to live off the land -all la die da- that you realise deep-down, in your soul, you’re an accountant. All of these things are ok – but none of them will you discover unless you’re brave enough to fail.

As much as we all like to think that we can face that ass-hat known as life alone the truth is even the toughest of us need help on occasion. When in doubt, when in times of trouble, join forces, ask for help. You’ll get through it all, if you stand tall with a little help from your friends.

Understand that there is a bigger picture. A future goal, something to work for to strive to. But while you’re busy putting down markers for the next 20 years, stop every once in a while and take a look at what’s happening around you.

When America gained its independence from Britain a king of the time wrote in his diary. “Nothing of importance happened this day.” Reach for the future absolutely but keep a leg in the present.

Now as for technology.
Do not be too proud of the technological terrors that we’ve constructed. Somedays it feels as if we live in a society where the phones have become smarter than the people. There is life happening around you all the time while you’re busy taking a selfie.

Remember that a footprint doesn’t look like a boot. When you go into another person’s facebook profile snooping about al clickety click click and find that so and so is doing this and that and suddenly you feel disheartened. Remember that these profiles show only the faintest glimmer of the real and full picture. So envy not.

Also while I’m on my techno rant, stay away from twitter. I mean really, nobody cares that your egg white omelet was slightly runny, or your orange juice tasted funny after you brushed your teeth. Let’s face it, instagram is just twitter for those who can’t read.

The average laptop today is more powerful than all the computers used to put a man on the moon in 1969. How many of us simply use it to poke each other on facebook or throw around digital sheep.

I’m not saying we should all go Amish and abandon technology. Just remember that these things are tools and rely on people –not the other way around.

That’s it. My techno rant is done.

As much as this prize giving stands as a testament to your hard work and effort it is sometimes easy to forget those who stood next to you as you climbed the ladder to victory making sure it stays steady. So on behalf of all you most excellent achievers I would like to thank those who stood beside you through it all.

I want to thank your parents for knowing what’s best for you and sticking to it; even when you throw a hissy-fit in the shops and drop down like a sack of spuds pretending to have lost the ability to walk because they wouldn’t buy 15 tubs of ice-cream for a five year old.

I want to thank them for giving you a place to sleep, proper education and kicking your lazy behind out of bed every morning to get you ready for the day.

Next I thank the friends. Those friends who help you where they can who tell you the truth even when it’s unpleasant. The friends who stand by you through rags, riches, good times and the great googely moogely times where you think you might have mad cow because you quite fancy chewing on grass now.

And Finally I want to thank your teachers, coaches, trainers and everybody else who structured your training and education enabling you to achieve your potential.

So to one and all, from top to toe, from head to foot. Well done.

Clap.