How memorable would it be to have Oprah as a commencement speaker at your graduation ceremony? She spoke for about 30 minutes to Stanford's class of 2008 and shared these three lessons that have greatly impacted her life, having to do "with feelings, with failure and with finding happiness."
She may have given each graduate two books, but we can all take something away from the three lessons. You can view the entire video on YouTube.
- On feelings: "When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid. The trick is to learn to check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead."
There are two more lessons so just read more.
- On failure: "So, ask every failure—this is what I do with every failure, every crisis, every difficult time—I say, what is this here to teach me? And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on. If you really get the lesson, you pass and you don't have to repeat the class. If you don't get the lesson, it shows up wearing another pair of pants—or skirt—to give you some remedial work."
- On happiness: "Don't live for yourself alone. This is what I know for sure: In order to be truly happy, you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself. Because life is a reciprocal exchange. To move forward you have to give back. And to me, that is the greatest lesson of life. To be happy, you have to give something back."
View Photos: Oprah Winfrey
on Yahoo! |
I bet she is expensive to book at a graduation....