J.K. Rowling delivered the commencement address at Harvard's graduation ceremony. I have actually never read the Harry Potter series but was blown away by her beautiful words. Here are two of my favorite excerpts:
"So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."
I loved these words. So many times in life I feel overwhelmed by my fears; however I am daily working on conquering my fears and becaming a someone that I am proud of. I also loved this quote:
"You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default."
Need inspiration? Read the rest here.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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Hermana - I read the talk - its very inspiring and full of good things. I'm glad that you put it on.
ReplyDeleteWay to go!!
By the way - my plasma experience and passing out has not happened again. In fact Steve took such good care of me that I recover quickly. You know its nothing like telenovelas - I felt very dehydrated- those telenovelas are so dramatic :)
ReplyDeleteAlso - Our painting experience was a fun date!! Its good to get creative.
ReplyDeleteSteve enjoys HGTV and would love to have a house to decorate and remodel. And in due time it will happen!!!
Wow, this is really cool. I really like the part about her worst fears being realized. I think a lot of time people are scared but they don't even know of what. When you ask them, "what will happen when you fail?" they have no idea.
ReplyDeleteShe has quite a way with words. She really ought to consider a career in such a field. ...... Oh wait a minute.... ;)
That is awesome! What great wisdom. It is always nice to have some inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I realize I already said how cool this was, but I don't think I even appreciated how amazing it was the first time around. Maybe it is just because it is so applicable to me in what I am specifically going through right with preparing to leave Romania, but oh my goodness! I posted on our peace corps message board and shared it with them. Thank you so much! By the way, if you want to actually watch the video (and hear her awesome Brittish accent) you can check out the video at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L445BmUEXH4
Ive been checking your blog, so i just wanted to make sure you were checking mine. www.eddiegreenwood.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteSo funny how I stumbled onto your blog through my friend Laura's blog. I was just curious to see what you've been up to since we parted ways and now we've both left Intrepid.
ReplyDeleteLaughed when I saw that you had completely copied this off my blog. Who does that?
Glad to hear things are going well with your business and your marriage.