To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning<\/p>\n
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In his commencement address to the graduating class of Wellesley High School, David McCullough Jr., the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and a longtime English teacher at Wellesley High School, Wellesley, Massachusetts, introduces his talk with eyebrow-raising words: \u201cNone of you is special. You\u2019re not special, you\u2019re not exceptional\u2026. You are nothing special.\u201d He tells them that despite all the applauds, words actions telling them to the contrary: \u2018You are not special.\u201d With humorous commentary he supports his words with eye-opening data.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe empirical evidence is everywhere\u2026.. Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That\u2019s 37,000 valedictorians\u2026 37,000 class presidents\u2026 92,000 harmonizing altos\u2026 340,000 swaggering jocks\u2026 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs. But why limit ourselves to high school? After all, you\u2019re leaving it. So think about this: even if you\u2019re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you.\u2026 And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I\u2019ll remind you, is not the center of its solar system; your solar system is not the center of its galaxy; your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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McCullough states: \u201cIf everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. We have come to love accolades more than genuine achievements.\u201d Life is about doing \u2013 a doing filled and inspired by passion, love, focus and urgency.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI urge you to do, whatever you do, for no reason other than you love it, and believe in its important. Dream big, work hard, think for yourself! Love everything you love, everyone you love with all your might and do so with a sense of urgency for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer.\u2026. The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life is an achievement, not something that will fall into your lap because you are a nice person\u2026. Get busy, have it have at it, don\u2019t wait for inspiration to find you, get up, get out, explore, find it yourself, grab hold with both hands\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
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His concluding words share a profound message of the learning that comes from a well-lived and travelled journey: \u201cThe fulfilled life is a consequence of gratifying by-product. It\u2019s what happens when you are thinking of more important things. You, too, will discover that the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing that you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition, that you\u2019re not special\u2026 because everyone is. Make for yourselves, please, for your sake and for ours, extraordinary lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Extraordinary leaders find their greatness not is their own self-image, but in their selflessness in serving others. From the wisdom of Albert Einstein, they have learned: \u201cA person starts to live when he can live outside himself.\u201d In doing this remember the words of Jessy and Bryan Matteo: \u201cEven the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water -it will make ripples throughout the entire pond\u2026.\u201d Make ripples that move around the world!<\/p>\n
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Have a beautiful day and a joyful, magnificent week!!!<\/p>\n
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Mike<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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