I tried to find our yearbook to actually remember what our motto, or grad

 

slogan, or anything of relevance to our time in Paul Kane and try to transition it

to something witty and profound. The truth of the matter is; I haven’t the foggiest where I put it. In the end, I think that’s actually a good thing, because quite honestly, we’re not at the age to really reminisce, and we are still considered we have plenty of time to chase our goals, fulfill our ambitions, and tackle those projects we have put off to tomorrow. Our future, for the most part, is still unwritten, and I look forward to it.

 

I am also not going to stand here and recall ‘remember when’ stories, or make comments about receding hair lines, expanding waist lines, or the clothes we used to wear. What I will try to focus on is a whimsical look at what it means to get older, and as we all approach the incoming forty, how have goals in life changed since we were teens.

 

So, the lighthearted side….just nod your heads if you agree to any of these observances:

 

-        Some of the music we hear on the radio is god awful, and you blatantly believe music from the 80’s and 90’s actually had talent. Not all, but some

-        You find some of the new employees entering the workforce are pretty selfish, want everything immediately, and aren’t willing to get where ever you are in your station of life? This if followed by the immediate rememberance of what it was like for you to claw your way up?

-        For some reason, there seems to be more remotes in the household than there are actually electronic devices? This is also followed by your rememberance when you had to physically get up and switch the dial.

-        When you mention ‘peasantvision’ to someone less than 10 years younger than you, they look at you with a blank look?

-        When you moved out of the house, you though living in your new apartment, or the space you shared with your roomies was the best thing ever, and you had more space, peace and quiet than you knew what to do with. Now, your peace and quiet time is measured by the fact that children, in laws, parents are either not around or out of the house, and you have a full 8 minutes to yourself.

-        You have a realization that getting together with friends was really not that difficult many years. However now you have to plan months in advance to see someone living in the same city as you.

-        $20 in your pocket meant the world to you as it allowed a movie, some food, and for some stuff afterwards. Now you’re lucky to actually have $20 in your pocket at anyone time, and when you do, it’s only there for about 5 minutes

-        You remember two Germanies, Russia was bad, and heading to WEM was a fairly significant drive.

-        On occasion, you find yourself saying something that sounds eerily similar to what your mom or dad has said in the past.

-        You look around at your possessions, your children, your job, may have suffered an ailment of some sort, and just kind of reflected for a moment and said ‘Is this what it is all about?” or …”Is this it?”

 

Congratulations. You are getting older, and you’re definitely not alone. Chances are the people across from you, sitting beside you may have nodded one or two time in agreement.

 

So…what does it all mean? I haven’t got a clue. There are countless books out there by the world’s greatest philosophers who have yet to answer that one. What defines success, happiness, or even joy for us 20 years later? Still haven’t the foggiest, but I do have an idea. So I will give you one Christopher Creran’s concept.

 

In our teens, and if you are to review our yearbook sayings, you would probably see things like…’Want to have, wish to have, want to have visited places like, want to do this, want to become’ Truth of the matter, several of you probably have done what you have wanted to do. Some have world wide travel experiences, some are living their dream job, some have that prized possession, and others have that family life they envisioned in their youth. 

 

We are surrounded here this evening by business owners, administrators, government employees, parents, homemakers, lawyers, physicians, accountants, scientists, IT specialists…the list is infinite.

 

However, for me our professional careers, and material possessions are irrelevant. I look at us all, and I am not really concerned with how we did or not achieve our goals at this point in life, but rather; what was the journey that took us there? What have we learned? Are we better or worse off for learning some of these lessons, and how do we apply to our future?  Are we a better person, or are we worse off? The reality is for every career success story, some of us may not have realized this goal yet. For every parent, there are those of us still struggling to become one. Life happens to all of us, and sometimes we find ourselves on the wrong side of the coin. The goal then becomes how do we address these inconveniences, and how do we come out better people as a result. 

 

This is one of my favourite quotes, and I’m not going to read the whole thing, just a portion. You probably have heard of it already, but it’s written by Marianne Williamson and was used by Nelson Mandela in one of his speeches :

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

We are at a great age. The future is still largely unwritten, and for those of us not quite there yet there is time to achieve those physical goals we set for ourselves 20 years ago. Don’t give up. For those that have, a sincere congratulations and I wish everyone continued success and happiness.

 

Kind of heavy, kind of philosophical. So I will leave you with this.

 

-        Peta Martin sends her regards from California. She wishes she could be here, wishes everyone well, but according to her facebook page, she is unfortunately unable to attend due to her contractual obligations in her upcoming gay porn film..

 

 

Thank you everyone.