I recently received a WhatsApp message containing a video of an elderly man making a short speech after receiving his Doctorate degree (I suppose in Theology). Unfortunately, I do not know who the speaker is, neither the university, but I’ve decided to share his wit and good advice with you.
The speech
I am indeed humbled and honoured to be awarded a doctor’s degree from such an outstanding university.
I have a strong faith in God and I don’t know how people live without it.
Born with a silver spoon
Ladies and gentleman, I want you to know, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I was born in a cellar at home, delivered by Dr McGraw. We had one bathroom for my sister, myself and my parents. We had half a bath and a kitchen.
Seven and a half years we lived in that place; there was no welfare, there was no food stamps, there was no safety net. But I always had plenty to eat, because every time I asked for seconds, my dad would say, “No, you had plenty.”
But why was I born with a silver spoon in my mouth? Because
I was taught by my parents that life is a matter of making choices.
Wherever you are, good or bad, it’s because of the choices you’ve made.
Growing or dying
See there’s a rule in life, that you are either growing or you are dying. The trees are either growing or it’s dying. So is grass, so is marriage, so is a business, so is a person.
It doesn’t have a thing to do with age; my birthday candles cost more than the cake. But it has everything to do with my trying to prove we got on top and saying, you know that’s pretty good, lets maintain it. Let’s not take any risk.
In a contest we finished second in the country, yet everybody called me an idiot. A guy finishes last in medical school, they call him “Doctor.” That doesn’t seem fair.
I went to live in a town where the average age was deceased. And what I found out is you have to have something to hope for, something to dream. And even though you’ve done great things in your life so far,
the question remains what are you going to do next?
I want to give you a simple plan which I wish I’d had learned when I was twenty-one.
# Three rules for life
There are only three rules you have to follow.
RULE NUMBER ONE: – Do what is right. Do what is right and avoid what is wrong and if you have any doubt, get out the Bible.
There’s never a right time to do the wrong thing. And there’s never a wrong time to do the right thing.
RULE NUMBER TWO: – Do everything to the best of your ability with time allotted. Everybody can be the best you’re capable of being. And I wanna tell you if you wanna fail, you have the right to fail, but do not blame anybody else. On the other hand, you do not have the right to cause other people to fail.
If you get an education, you’re willing to work and overcome problems and difficulties, you can amount to something.
RULE NUMBER THREE: – Just genuinely care about people because everybody you’re going to meet the rest of your life needs a smile, needs a kind word, needs an encouragement.
Cause see, when you do the right thing, people are always gonna be able to trust you.
Trust, Commitment and Love.
Family first
Those are the three rules I had for my children and my team. My greatest accomplishment is not coaching, not TV, not speaking. My greatest accomplishment is my family. And I am very proud …
You can’t take your money to heaven. But I’ll tell you something – you can sure take your children to heaven with you.
I leave you with this very last thought. Wanna be happy for an hour? Eat a steak. Wanna be happy for a day? Play golf. Wanna be happy for a week? Go on a cruise.
Wanna be happy for a lifetime? Put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Have you perhaps lost your job and you don’t know what to do next? If that is you, contact me for a Career Direct Assessment (available online) which will help you know and understand yourself. It will not only show who you are, but will also point you in the right direction.
