Dr. Val FarmerDr.Val
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Rural Mental Health & Family Relationships

Graduates, Climb The Mountain Of Your Dreams

May 27, 1996

For the past year, Yuri Grankin, an exchange student from Latvia, has lived with our family. He will be graduating from high school in a few short days. Here is some advice for Yuri and other 1996 graduates as they prepare to climb to the mountain tops of their dreams.

How do you reach the mountain top of success? What skills and attitudes do you need to make your journey successful?

A base camp of love. Your journey begins from a base camp of shared love and companionship with friends, family and loved ones. Nothing is more important. Choose your friends and lifelong companions for your climb wisely.

This base camp has a foundation of spiritual meaning, mutual understanding and support, and deep nourishment and renewal. A quest for success should go hand in hand with nurturing and maintaining the base camp. That makes the quest possible. Often you will need to retreat to your base camp for strength before striking out again.

The presence of and involvement with children is intensely satisfying. Preparing the rising generation has a meaningful purpose of its own - a dominating and soul-satisfying purpose that will rival or surpass any rewards of your climb toward personal success. This climb is a family affair.

You have a gift. Perhaps you have several gifts. You know what some of them are already. You are special. Believe it. By attempting a variety of things, you will come to know yourselves and the talents you possess.

Find a role model. Get a vision of what you want to be and how to get there. Choose someone who is already on the path and is willing to help others - even if it is just by example.

Keep learning. This long journey is fascinating and incredibly complex. Despite all your efforts, you will just scratch the surface of the truth available to you. Successful people continue to learn even when they are near the top.

Some people have wisdom. Be humble enough to learn from them. Be a good listener. Accept criticism. Be honest and face painful truth.

Be a self-starter. It is energy, not talent that will drive you up the mountain of your dreams. Don't be a spectator in life. Jump in and make it happen. If you aren't enthusiastic about the climb, something is wrong.

Dream the impossible dream. Your greatest limitation is your own imagination. If you have a goal, you will recognize opportunities and obstacles in your path.

You will not always end up where you originally set out to go. Keep your eyes and heart wide open. You may see something that is better than what you previously dreamed.

Find a need. Genius belongs to those who identify a need and fill it with quality. Let others know of your talent, product or service. It will not sell itself. Make you gifts known to others and new, more direct trails will open up and lead off to many plateaus.

Deadlines are important. Work expands to the amount of time allotted. Goals without deadlines are fictions of your imagination - dreams that will never become realities. Without deadlines, you will dawdle and wander. The summer of your opportunities will quickly turn autumn brown and wintery cold making your ascent more difficult.

Avoid distractions. The blandishments of the world teach you to be passive, lazy and to expect little of yourselves. The world teaches that the view from the foothills is compelling and the journey is over. It is too easy to rest. Shoulder your pack and climb.

Be a team player. Men and women united by goals and values have great creative power and resources at their disposal. Contribute your talents and join with others in finding a way to reach the top. Others’ hands will help you and yours will help them.

You grow into success. Success isn't standing at the pinnacle. It is what you become as you stretch yourself in the climb and overcome obstacles to get there. The building blocks of success are the small steps of effort, made daily, that add up to an incredible journey.

To expect something for nothing is a shortcut that leads to nowhere. The sweat and toil of the climb come long before the rewards and recognition.

Bad experiences are valuable. To accomplish great things, you have to take a chance. Despite your good intentions, you may fall or stumble. You might even get lost. Learn from your mistakes. It is when you bump up against something hard that you will learn things you can learn in no other way. These experiences can be stepping stones to greater success.

When you are near the top, you will have grown in power and freedom. By power, I mean the ability to do good and influence others. By freedom, I mean the freedom to choose your path and act on new dreams.

Happiness isn't at the top, however, if it hasn't been part of the journey. Sharing the journey with loved ones makes the struggle worthwhile. The ever-expanding horizons take on beauty and significance when we share them.

The mountain of your dreams is there in front of you. Your parents, friends and loved ones will cheer you on. You can make it! You really can!