This week's Pep Talk: "Commencement Exercises"

This time of year parents, grandparents or those closely connected with high school or college students attend graduation ceremonies and parties. It’s a festive moment in life designed to celebrate the student’s achievement of a worthy goal.

I have always found it somewhat interesting that even before accepting the well-earned diploma, deserved students and their guests experience “commencement exercises.” The studies are complete, the hard work rewarded, yet before receiving the “sheep skin” - are diplomas really made of sheep skin? - there is commencement, defined as “a beginning.”

Commencement speakers encourage the gathered to courageously venture beyond present boundaries limited only by imagination, not fear, in leaving a healthy and productive mark on our world – home, work and elsewhere.

The ink isn’t even dry on the diploma and students are being called to commence, to begin, another. It’s what life is all about, right? Aren’t we all, constantly called to “commence” a new journey? Quite often, unlike the joy and optimism abounding from a person’s graduation from high school or college, we are called to commence despite dark and foreboding moments: death of a loved one, divorce, illness, job loss, to name just a few. Whether we like it or not, life, and its unexpected and unwanted twists and turns, is constantly calling us to journey toward a new frontier.

It makes me think of Thelissa Zollinger. For the second straight year, I had the joy of hosting her creation, The Gift of Life and Breath 5K. A record crowd of more than 1,000 gathered on the University of Colorado/Anschutz Medical Campus grounds for the run/walk dedicated to raising money to fund research for a reliable early-detection test for lung cancer. As we stood on a raised platform preparing to start the race, the mother of six and grandmother of even more, looked down on this adoring crowd and proclaimed, “It’s because of great folks like you that we have hope!”

Four years ago, Thelissa was challenged to commence a new journey after husband Gary lost a battle with lung cancer. She has made it a life mission to discover a reliable early detection test for lung cancer. We’re getting close! This amazing woman is transforming her pain into promise for others. What about us? We too are frequently demanded to begin a new chapter, we are called despite the injustices life tosses our way, to begin anew. The question becomes, what will our commencement exercises look like?

Let’s encourage one another to be students, not victims of experiences; to realize we’re not alone in our struggles; to understand the importance of connecting with others who share similar challenges and finally, to encourage one another to move forward in ways honoring, nurturing and adding value to the communities we serve.

Those commencement exercises, at any time of life, give us a chance to graduate at the top of our class.