Sunday, August 2, 2015

Take Action - Highlights of University of Wisconsin Commencement Speech by Bradley Whitford

I was just looking through my notebook and stumbled afresh upon this collection of life nuggets by Bradley Whitford.

Read, reflect, enjoy, and, most importantly, take action!

" "Our worst 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 most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world." -- Nelson Mandela

1. Fall in love with the process and the results will follow. For example, you've got to want to write more than you want to be a writer.

2. Do your work. Find joy in the process of preparation.

3. Listen to the whispers inside you. We have a lot of problems in this world and we're going to need you to think outside the box.

4. You are capable of more than you think. Don't limit yourselves.

5. Listen. Listening isn't passive. It is an act of liberation that will connect you to the world with compassion and be your best guide as you navigate the choppy waters of love, work and citizenship.

6. Take action. Action is the antidote to apathy and cynicism and despair. You will inevitably make mistakes. Learn what you can and move on. At the end of your days, you will be judged by your gallop, not by your stumble.

Come as you are, armed with nothing more than the tools of a mediocre television actor. All we need is for you to find joy in your journey, to find satisfaction in hard work, to be aware of what is happiness around you, to free yourself from your imagined limitations, to listen, and finally, to act -- not to play make-believe.

I want you to be an actor in your own life. Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honour your Creator, not by passively waiting for your grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen -- yourself right now, right down here on Earth."

For the full transcript, please refer to http://news.wisc.edu/9829

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