If every father told his son he was proud of him the world would be a much better place.
Just last weekend, my favorite and only son, Jordan,
graduated from LeTourneau University located in East Texas. I will not mince words, I am proud of him.
On Facebook there were many who felt a similar sense
of pride for my son and a few who greatly admired his ability to persevere so
well. Graduating college is huge, but I am even more pleased with how Jordan is
learning to rise above life’s difficulties.
Consequently, during
Jordan’s graduation on May 3rd the guest speaker even inadvertently
spoke about how to rise above. He stood
behind the stage’s lectern and made it profusely clear to the students that he
believes there are three people in life.
In a way, he was telling the graduates what he thought they needed to do
to rise above and be successful in life.
First, he mentioned
that you can be a victim and allow life to make you feel small and overwhelmed
when things don’t go your way. Second,
he stated that you can be a manager and try to stay one step ahead of life by planning
ahead and living within reason comfortably.
Or thirdly, you can be leader of change, who is willing to take risks
and make a difference with his life.
He made it clear that only the last was truly successful. The speaker then shared his own difficult
life experience and how he overcame it and now was a successful CEO of a large
energy company. Moments
later, my wife, two daughters and Jordan’s girlfriend watched as Jordan crossed
the stage and became a graduate from LeTourneau, where he had diligently
invested the last five years of his young life.
It was a short walk to celebrate a long accomplishment in his life and I
have never been more proud of a young, yet so mature young man.
When it comes to rising above one last image of my
son looms large. This memory has to do with a red sweatshirt he used to wear
often during his high school years on the basketball team. It was a sweatshirt
with Michael Jordan’s image on it soaring high above the rim, just like one
displayed at the top of this article, which screamed rise above it. Jordan does not play organized basketball
anymore, nor do I believe he has that red sweatshirt. However, I hope and pray that
his drive is to be the best at whatever he does, is like Michael Jordan used to
exhibit on the basketball court.
My son’s graduation reminds me that there comes a
moment in all our lives, despite the adversity, that we must not give in to
difficulty and will ourselves to rise above it.
My son’s actions have proven at least to me that he has chosen the
later. We cannot force or produce results in our children. However, we can fan the flames with the
appropriate praise and encouragement when the fire is in full blaze
To rise above our
adversity is never a once and done kind of thing, rather it needs to become
common place kind of thing.
Swavel
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