It is the first unofficial days of summer.  Graduates, from colleges a couple of weeks ago, and from high school now in these waning days of May, are going to be leaving the halls of their respective learning institutions and looking out with fresh eyes on the world outside of their doors.

I’ve done the high school thing.  I’ve done the college thing.  I’ve done the graduate school thing.  I’ve been in the work force.  I’ve loved.  I’ve lost.  I’ve felt the pain of loss.  I’ve felt the pain of rejection.  I’ve felt hope.  I’ve felt love.  I’ve felt a deep and abiding faith.

I’ve spent my fair share of time looking for my future.  I didn’t find it in my hometown.  I didn’t find it working on my undergrad at North Dakota State in Fargo.  I didn’t find it when I got my master’s at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.  I didn’t find in my job in Kansas, or Ohio, or Minneapolis for that matter.  In the end, I’ve found that my future lays not in a place, but within.  It lies in my head.  It lies in the work of my hands.  It lies in my heart.  It resides in my soul.

I’ve spent my fair share of time looking for happiness.  I didn’t find it in money or riches.  I didn’t find it in travel.  I didn’t find it in stuff - in things - in electronics and gizmos.  I didn’t find it in any of the things that the world would associate with wealth.  Instead, I found happiness in family and in friends.  It comes from holding your new nephew’s little fingers for the first time.  It comes from a big hug from your nieces.  It comes from spending a lazy afternoon with friends - talking about everything and nothing at the same time.  It lies in giving of yourself for a worthy cause - giving of your time, your talent, and your treasure to something that you hold dear to you heart.

I’ve spent my fair share of time looking for the path that I should follow.  It isn’t the easy road.  It isn’t asphalt way marked with signs leading directly to your goal.  It is crooked and winding.  It has loops and double backs.  I’ve felt the feeling of getting lost - of losing my way more then once - reaching a place that seems like a dead end - only to find the most amazing place and to find the trail marker again saying to keep on, the best things lay ahead.

I’ve lost my faith a time or two, my faith in other men, my faith in my friends and family, my faith in mankind, my faith in all that is good, my faith in God.  Luckily, none of them have given up on me.  Luckily, they have all been there to lend a helping hand, a kind word, a pat on the back.

I’ve about given up on myself a time or two.  I’ve lost a lot of battles in my life, felt the sting of hurt, humiliation, defeat.  But what hurts more is the regret of having never tried, of giving up before you start, of listing to the critics and agreeing when they say something can’t be done.  Of never letting your boat leave the harbor and test itself on the open sea.

After it all, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was one of those fresh faced young men looking out on the world, and that feeling is hard to hang onto.  It is hard to remember when you are in the trenches, day in and day out, that the life is short and the battle long - but most of the time, that battle is only with ourselves.

To the class of 2009, congratulations - good luck - and God speed!