You seem the same as always,
and being you, hate every minute of it.
Don't it!
Learn to say "Fuck You" to the world every once in a while.
You have every right to.
Just stop thinking, worring, looking over your shoulder,
wandering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out,
struggling, grasping, confusing, itching, scratching,
numbling, bumbling, grumbling,
humbling, stumbling, numbing,
rambling, gambling,
tumbling, stumbling, scrambling,
hitching, hatching, bitching,
moaning, groaning, goning, boning,
horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-tricking, nose-sticking,
ass-gouging, eveball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking,
long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scatching,
searching, perching, besmirching,
grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself.
Stop it,
and just DO.
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But I tell you there are some times in life where you fall down
and feel like you don't have the strength to get back up.
So you sort of put a mask on your face and come to school
and pretend that everythomg is okay when it's not and you go home
and lay in your bed when no one's looking at you,
when you don't have to impress anybody and you're youself.
And fear conies in.
You know the fear that you have as soon as you
walk into the doors of your house?
Maybe it's a broken home.
Maybe you have doubt in your life.
Maybe you don't know for sure what's
going to be happening in the future and it scares you.
Maybe you're worrued about what people think of you,
what people say about you.
Just that fear that paralyzes you and I just want ask you today,
do you think you have hope?
Because I tell you I'm down here, face down,
and I have no arms and no legs.
It should be impossible for me to get back up.
I mean , you go home and tie up the legs and arms of your brothers and sisters and like,
push them down and see how long it's going to take them to get back up.
You know what I mean? You know you can tell them that
you'll see them tomorrow, you know what I mean?
But this is the the thing - it should be impossible for me to get back up.
But it's not.
You see, I will try 100 times to get up and if I fail 100 times
if I fail and I give up,
do you think that I'm ever going to get up? No.
But if I fail and I try again? And again and again?
For as long as I try there is always that chance of me getting up.
Does that make sense?
And it's not the end until you've given up.
And just the fact that you're here
should persuade you that you have another chance to get back up.
There's still hope.
I'm not here today to tell you that I understand your pain.
I don't know how it feels to be abused.
I don't know how it feels to feel quote
"fat" or you've got an eating disorder.
I don't know how it feels to have a broken home.
I don't know how it feels.
But I know how it feels to have a broken heart.
And I know it feels to be alone.
And I want you to know that I've found my strength in Jesus Christ
and you're going to find your strength in whatever you find it in.
But I just want you to know that it's not the end.
It matters how you are going finish.
Are you goinf to finish strong?
And you will find that strength to get back up, like this.
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I'll leave you with three quick pieces of advice.
First, don't be afraid.
America has gone through tough times before,
slavery civil war, famine, disease,
the Great Depression, and 911.
And each time, we came out stronger,
usually because a new generation, young prople like you,
learn from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.
Second, do what you think is right.
Doing what feels good, what's covenient, what's easy,
that's how little kids think.
Unfortunately a lot of so called grown ups,
including some with fancy titles and important jobs,
still think that way, which is why things are so screwed up.
I hope that instead you decide to groud yourself values that last.
Like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness,
generosity, respect for others.
You won't get it every time.
You'll make mistakes like we all do.
But if you listen to the truth that's inside youself,
even when it's hard,
even when it's inconvenient, people will notice, they'll gravitate towards you.
And you'll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
And finally, build the community.
No one dose big things by themselves.
Right now, when people are scared,
it's easy to be cynical and say,
let me just look out for myself,
or my family or people who look or think or pray like me.
But if we're gonna get through these difficult times,
if we're gonna create a world where everybody has opportunity
to find a job and afford college,
if we're gonna save the environment, and defeat tuture pandemics
then we're gonna have to do it together.