Motivate Me

Our English Teacher handed this out to us in class. I think it's just awesome and it has completely changed me.

LIVIN and LOVIN

M.Sharenbrock

Indiana is a neat place…I love Indiana…they have the biggest gyms in the world…holy cow look at the gym…yeah we got a big gym… I come to Indiana… lets look at the school…No, let me show you our gym…you can seat Indianapolis in our gym …right there we got a big gym…how’s your school?…Oh, yeah, great-- we got a big gym. So I know you are thinking to yourself. “Ok Mr. Speaker guy from Minnesota, is this a little motivational speaker routine about being all you can be and choose your attitudes, write down your goals and persevere, because like Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team, or some guy with no arms and legs climbed mount Everest with just his teeth and a good attitude, and if we have a good one we can soar to the next mountain, is that what is next because all you motivational speaker guys are all the same…my mom has all the tapes, is that what is next?” Nope. Because I’m not a motivational speaker. I’m a teacher and if I am going to teach anything today, it’s two things. Number one to live, and number two to love.

So what’s the live one about? I speak at commencements all across the country. I always ask the seniors what’s the best moment about graduation. Most seniors say you know…going across stage getting my diploma…it’s a good moment, but its not the best moment because really in every seniors head, as they are going across stage, they are all saying the same one prayer. Oh, God, don’t trip (laughs) So what’s the best moment? I think the best moment is when the last diploma has been passed out. The last tassle has been turned…the choir finished their last song in tears together. The people are marching out…and everyone’s hugging. You see classmates hugging other classmates that they didn’t even say hello to in the hallway…because finally it’s just a class together. Don’t wait until the last thirty seconds to experience that part of your life. Live life.

So the question is how? How do you live life? Don’t even think about your senior year…go back to the days of my little pony and rainbow bright, go back to the days of care bears and cabbage patch kids, teenage mutant ninja turtles, new kids on the black…ahhhhhh…. spice girls….ahhhhhh….and oh oh saved by the bell… you were all about zach. You had a thing for zach. You were all over zach… and guys remember transformers…remember the song…transformers…more than meets the eye. Ahghgghahaha. Go back to days where you told your parents to stop the car so you could watch the rainbow…go back to the days when high adventure was camping in a little tent in the back yard…everybody had a flashlight and at midnight the four guys would reach in the middle and say “the four of us best friends forever. Ahghgghahaha”

You want to enjoy life…you want to be motivated…all you got to do is to go back and do what you did in first grade. Because 1st graders don’t want to watch life. They want to experience it. When you were little you were so cool and you never wanted to miss anything. You got excited about getting tests back. I got a star!…I wanted a star…that is so cool! And all was great until you sat back down. That’s when the boys in the back row went to work didn’t they…hahahahaha…. mark is dumb mark is…thhhummmmppp…that one got us…direct hit right to the heart…and all of a sudden kids are laughing at us for just being us…all of a sudden kids are laughing at us because we are excited about life. So we start to think maybe-just-maybe how other people see me should be how I see myself. But if you define yourself by how you’re seen instead of how you see, That’s when you compromise. That’s when you lose the spark. That’s when you settle for less in life. (pause) Live life. Lesson one…to live….lesson two…to love.

You want to do something neat? Learn to love. Give people value. What do I mean?…watch babies, bambinos, bebes, ninos, kinders, justcuzs, nehas, watch babies who look in mirrors…all babies look in mirrors. When you were little you looked in the mirror all the time…you still do now…but back then you didn’t know it was you. You thought it was a toaster…you loved what you saw…unconditional love…unconditional acceptance. You looked in the mirror, and all you saw was this beautiful little child of God.

A lot of us woke up this morning…walked in the bathroom, turned on the light, looked in the mirror and went, “Whoaaaa! You better go back to bed!…you’re not done cooking yet.” What happened? What happened to that beautiful little child who celebrated that kid looking in the mirror? What happened to that little kid who really sanctified life? And now who will tie a young man up to a post and beat them to death because they are gay, like in Wyoming. What happened to that little child who believed in God, and now who will fly a plane into a building…just to prove a political point.

What happened. I don’t know. I walked the halls of Columbine and I don’t know…I stood over ground zero and I don’ know. But I do know this. If you want to see your value everyday so you can give value to others…make sure your sharin’ instead of comparin’. When you share your talents, this world is a better place. That’s what its all about. But when you compare it means waking up everyday in life walking into the school and going “well…maybe I’m not as good as that…but at least I’m better than that.” Cause if all you do if life is compare… you are playing a game of “not enough.” You will never be tall enough, thin enough, cute enough, smart enough, rich enough. And people who don’t feel like they are enough, can hurt other people. They create empty holes in their heart, and they fill those holes with very destructive choices.

Then what am I talking about?…Example… First grade…Holy Spirit School…its after lunch…I’m at my desk. Sister’s up front…her name is Sister Immaculate Conception. “Children (sisters voice) children…its time to color.” Ahh I love to color. Wait until you see me color (kids voice)…I bet I end up in the AP levels of coloring. I reached inside my school supply baggy and I pulled out a box of five crayons. Big ones…jumbos…beauties. Little girl sitting next to me is very nice. We were line leaders on the way down to lunch together. Plus she was cute…there were possibilities. She reached inside her little Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, gap, old navy, Tommy, FUBU, abercrappy Fitch attaché case, “crayolas…super-duper deluxe. She had nine-thousand crayons. She had a flip top box. She had a sharpener, a genuine sharpener on the back, solar power, 900 series, nicely equipped. And she was excited about her crayons, and she should have been…they looked good. So she looked at me and she said “Guess what? I have seventeen different shades or orange.” I don’t even have orange. So instead of being happy for her and sharing. I compared. Hey guys…you see that little girl over there…she’s got 17 different shades of orange…a little rich girl. (goes to girl) hey we’ve been talking…no body likes orange, it was such a last fall color.

That’s the moment we look at somebody else, and all we see is color instead of character. Clothing labels instead of human hearts. All that I am saying is that…don’t go through life counting crayons. Celebrate life. Because if all you do is count crayons, you can’t win…cause no matter how many crayons you end up with (laugh). Bill Gates will always have more. If you really want to enjoy life…stop counting crayons…just draw pictures.

To live and to love… To live life fully each day. To bring a smile to someone’s face. To make your days count instead of counting your days. It’s all cliché’s…but there is truth behind it. I mean when I came here today, I met people…and they were like, hey how are you…welcome to Indiana…our gyms are huge. Celebrate life…Live and Love…live…and…. love.

GO OUT AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE. LIVE AND LOVE.
DON'T BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE UNMOTIVATED GENERATION.