"Tell us the truth."

My husband has been thinking about the upcoming commencement speech he will give at the university's May graduation. Every once in a while during a conversation, he will launch into a topic that I can tell he has been considering for the speech. Then I'll ask him 'Are you just talking? Or is this practice for the speech?'

Last week at the university, he was talking to a group of students about the graduation ceremony, and he asked them what they would like to hear during the commencement speech. Inspiration? Motivation? The students' answer to my husband's question: "Just tell us the truth."

So that's what we were discussing today-- the truth. In my opinion, everyone has their own truth. If there are one thousand graduating students at the commencement, then there will be one thousand interpretations of whatever speech is given. Inspiration and motivation comes from within, sometimes with an outside prompt.

My husband had asked me what I would say if it were me giving the commencement speech. Ooooh... hard question. One that I could only answer in short sentences as we were talking and discussing the speech and possible topics. I needed to type... I think much better when I'm typing because the sound of spoken words don't get in the way.

So here it is... I would tell the graduating students my own truth, as I see it:

There will be a time in your life when you come to the realization that we are all just teeny specks in this enormous universe, and the sooner you believe this fact, the better your life's choices will be. Whatever we accumulate during our life-times doesn't amount to much when our lives are coming to a close. It is usually towards the close of our lives that we start to examine everything we've done, and most often, that's way too late to make good changes and better choices.

The truth is this: It doesn't matter how smart you are, how many degrees you have, how much money you've earned, how big your house is, how little your debt is. What matters is who you are. You can't be taught 'how to be' in textbooks. Who you are comes from all the experiences and the emotional baggage you carry with you as you go step-by-step through your life.

Every moment of life is a lesson and every life is made up of millions of moments. How many moments we each receive depends on how long we live, and how we live.

This planet is so very small when you consider the size of the universe. How can anyone think that what they do on this Earth will not affect anyone else? Every nice and good thing you do, every inconsiderate and not-so-nice thing you do... every single one of those moments will tumble across the planet like a line of dominoes. And it's up to each individual to turn those dominoes into sunshine, not mudslides.

Education is a powerful tool in this competitive world, but so is kindness. There are moments of learning in life that do not come out of chapters in a book. These are the moments that will test you, inspire you, motivate you. Or not. That choice -- to be inspired, to be motivated, to make thoughtful changes -- that choice is yours to make.

Those choices will eventually become your legacy on this planet. Your legacy, your memory, will live forever in the thoughts and actions of all who accompanied you during your life's journey, whether they were with you for just one moment or for a thousand moments.

The truth is this: years from now, no one will remember the title of the degree you've worked so hard to receive on this day. Years from now, no one will remember your bank balance or the expensive car that you drove. But they will remember the person that you were during the moments of life that you shared. Your legacy -- the memories of your life -- will live forever in the hearts and the minds of the people whose lives you touch. And if you've touched their lives in a loving and caring way, they will pass along your memory -- your legacy -- to everyone else they meet. They will learn from your kindness and good choices and pass those lessons on to everyone they know.

The truth is this: you have successfully attained a level of education that should enable you to make wise choices which will protect and preserve this sphere we call Earth. Wise choices, educated choices, caring and loving choices, can change our world, one action at a time, one moment at a time. And the truth is that there can be no better legacy for this graduating class in front of me at this very moment.