A word to you graduates

When you’ve crested the hill and one day find yourself gently braking on the downhill side, you have a tendency to look back. You think something foreboding is following you. And you’re right.

Before it catches up, you spend time thinking about the important things somebody probably told you when you weren’t listening. As a result, you learned many of them the hard way.

With hundreds of local high school graduates now starting their private journeys up their own hills, here are a few of the things we wish we’d heard.

- Yes, you’re special — an amazing, unique individual with unlimited potential. But so are millions of other high school graduates eager to kick your butt.

- You need more than a high school diploma to survive in today’s world. You’ve just finished an important chapter, not a whole book.

- College can be a waste of time and money unless you have a good idea what to learn, and what kind of career that study will lead to.

- Don’t borrow heavily to get a degree. Work hard and save more.

- Debt makes every hill a mountain. Heed Thomas Jefferson’s advice: “Never spend your money before you have it.”

- Alcohol isn’t evil. Its abuse is. And it can lead in so many ways to a lifetime of misery.

- No matter how busy you get, find time to exercise and balance that with prayer or meditation.

- Read. Read. And then read some more. You’ll learn most when you seek out viewpoints that challenge your own.

- Families are life’s greatest blessing. But starting a family before it’s time — before you find Mr. or Ms. Right — is a curse that will make your hill harder to climb for the rest of your life.

If these are too hard to remember, then just commit to this:

- In all cases, do what’s right.

Sorry this isn’t the rah-rah happy speech you’re probably hearing from your school’s valedictorian or some esteemed educator. True, optimism is essential for a happy life, a positive attitude decent fuel to get you where you want to go. But we think we’d be cheating our graduates by showering them with the flimsy flowers of false hope.

The truth is, it’s a tough world out there, and it’s only going to get tougher. Doing what’s right isn’t always easy, but it is always the best course of action.