Integration 3 Moreau Moreau FYE Integration 3 24 February 2022 The Nettie Guide to Life, Laughter, and the In-Between Death. What an interesting concept, individual to each person but universal in its own ways… and of course inevitable. Death has always been something that I tried to ignore, push away, and not think about in my life, but of course here we are, me talking to you about death as it pertains to me. With this in mind, because this death does pertain to me, I have the ability to talk about it however I choose. For me, this is not about death, but rather life. Today I choose to talk about life. A life well-lived. Pope Francis once said, “The future is made of yous, it is made of encounters, because life flows through our relations with others…each and everyone’s existence is deeply tied to that of others.” (“Why the only Future Worth Building includes everyone” by Pope Franics, Moreau FYE Week 7) As I gather you all here today, I want you to be constantly reminded that no one goes through life alone. We are all here for one another, supporting, and loving each other no matter what, and that is why you are all here for me today, because of the relationships that we established and grew together. Throughout my life, I worked to the best of my ability to form meaningful connections with others, truly seeing people for their inside characteristics and trying to understand their stories. I wish I had more time to grow and develop connections with the whole world, but as you sit here today, I want you to leave with a goal in mind. Here it is: say hi and smile at one new person each and every day. You have no idea the world of difference a smile could make in someone’s life. Everything in our world is connected and happiness can be discovered in our life through harmony between “the whole and each single component.” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis, Moreau FYE Week 7) With relationships in our minds, I would like to talk about the one that I had with my mom. Lindsay Rooney is not your ordinary person, but rather someone who is truly extraordinary. Not only did she work tirelessly at home to give me, my brother, and my dad the best life, but she worked tirelessly to cultivate generosity and love in her relationships with others, which was truly admirable. I cannot think about a day that went by without my mom sending flowers to a friend who was down, bringing dinner over to a friend that had surgery, or just sending a short text to remind them that they are loved. Thank you for inspiring me mom and for always continuing to do so, and thank you for being the most selfless and outstanding role model that I could have ever asked for. My mom knew me the best out of anyone (Discerning a Life Well Lived, Moreau FYE Week 5), so together we always talked about my future plans, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. She enabled me with the courage to feel like I could fly in life, and was always there to catch me when I came crashing down. She let me take risks, discover who I wanted to be, all while helping me make the world a better place. Mom, I will say it again, I love you more than the world. Continuing on this note, I further want to remind you all that “planning your career is much like planning for a trip…it’s not a one step process” (“Navigating your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development, Week 4). For all the young ones sitting here today and even the oldies (this applies to you too), I want you to be reminded that you are never stuck. There is always the ability to change what you want to do no matter what stage you are in your life. I can tell you that when I was in college I was very conflicted about my future, struggling to come up with a plan, which made me feel behind others. Well, you are not. No one knows exactly what they want to do, some people are just better at hiding it. So, with this in mind, here is your second goal for today: experiment, fail, try again, and discover your passions one step at a time. And PLEASE cut yourself some slack because being kind to yourself is the only way that this will work. You must love yourself before you can love others. “It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture” (“Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives” by Pico Iyer, Moreau FYE Week 1). Imperfection. I was imperfect, you are imperfect, and even Zac Efron is imperfect, although it may seem impossible. It’s okay to make mistakes because it is through mistakes that the most meaningful developments can be made. Despite what you all may think, I made many mistakes in my life. I hope you all heard the exaggeration in that statement…I was SO imperfect, but this is what made me human. My advice is to take the time to appreciate your imperfections, learn from them, and be better in the future. Oftentimes, we are so caught up in the world around us that we forget to take in the present moments, failing to notice the most important things in our lifetime. With this comes the third goal for today: each day take 1-5 minutes to think about something that you are grateful for in your life. This can be when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night, but I promise that it will help you to focus on living a more positive and optimistic life, truly taking in your surroundings and appreciating the world for all that it has to offer. While focusing on the good is always important, being stuck trying to focus “only on the “bright and shiny” is superficial and inauthentic…but it’s actually in facing the darkest realities of life that we find light in them” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham, Moreau FYE Week 3). Throughout my life, I often found myself afraid to focus on the bad in my life, purposefully avoiding it until it often caught up with me. My advice to you, don’t make this mistake. It is easy to focus on the “pretty, beautiful, bright, and shiny” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham, Moreau FYE Week 3), but it is through allowing yourself to be vulnerable that the dark realities will be faced, ultimately finding the true meaning and good in them. “When hardships or unexpected things happen to us, we often focus on things that we do not have” (“The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, there’s a wrong way)” by Tasha Eurich so here comes my fourth goal for today: when something bad happens to you in life think about all that you are gifted with, instead of what you don’t have. Okay four new goals for today to learn from me and live a life well-lived. I know that these goals won’t change the trajectory of your future, but I do know that they will lead you closer on the path towards a life well-lived. The first: say hi and smile at one new person each and every day. The second: experiment, fail, try again, and discover your passions one step at a time and PLEASE cut yourself some slack. The third, each day take 1-5 minutes to think about something that you are grateful for in your life. Last but certainly not least, the fourth: when something bad happens to you in life, think about all that you are gifted with, instead of what you don’t have. Your life is governed by the choices you choose to make, you have the power and ability to live a life however you please, but with this in mind remember, “you don’t make decisions because they are cheap; you make them because they’re right” (“Hesburgh” Produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley, Moreau FYE Week 2).