A bit of J.O. wisdom for the road called ‘life’

         Beginning this weekend, numerous area high schools and many trade schools, colleges and universities will hold graduations.
        It’s a special time of the year when high school seniors prepare for the future and reach their dreams. And for college graduates, many will complete internships or enter the workforce in their chosen field. Some will continue their educational pursuits.
         I remember when I graduated from high school in May 1978 and opted to enter the workforce. I trained in the printing trade in a high school vocational program and during the last semester of my senior year, I took an English course in the morning and then went to a job at a print shop a few miles away where I ran a letterpress (the old lead type). My job was printing three-to-a-page business checks using a press called a “Jumping Jack.”
    I continued in the printing business for almost a year after graduation before pursuing a different direction. I held other jobs including working as a custodian at the an all-night grocery and drug store, setting up double wide mobile homes with my uncle and working at a factory that made sieves used to move steel cables in cranes. I spent 7.5 years working for the circulation department with the Tulsa newspapers and a couple years selling and delivering waterbeds and oak furniture made in Tulsa.
     I returned to college in my late 20s after winning a camera in a weight loss bet with a co-worker a few years earlier. I started studying photography in 1987 at a community college in Claremore, Okla., a community about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa. After earning my AAS Degree in Graphic Technology (photography) in 1991, I decided to continue my educational pursuits.
     I left Tulsa in August 1992 after being accepted at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After graduating from MU at age 38 with my BS Degree in Agricultural Journalism in December 1997, some 19-years after high school, I moved to Iowa and began my community journalism journey.
      I have shared many stories in this column through the years of overcoming challenges and setbacks while working my way through college. I spent hours and hours being tutored in algebra and math. It took me three tries to get into journalism school. Thanks to hours of tutoring, guidance and studying, I passed the required 100-question grammar test with a score of 82 on the third try. I needed an 80 to pass.
     I remember the day well. It was my 36th birthday and while I and the other students, all a dozen or so years younger than me, waited to take the test, I found a place of solace at the other end of the building where I started to pray.
     I walked back and forth on the sidewalk praying. Every so often, someone would walk by and I’d stop praying and greet them. I then would go back to my business of building my faith.
    While praying, I told God that I might not understand it all, but that I believed I belonged in that (journalism) school and that I was going to get in.
      I’m glad I didn’t give up and let my past failures dictate my future.
    Through my life experiences, I have garnered a bit of wisdom that I believe will help you on your life journey. Here they are:
      • You will make mistakes. Don’t let a mistake define you. I’ve missed it more times than I’ve ever gotten it right. If you fail, get up, knock the dust off your hands and feet, forget the blame game and get on with life.
      • You will hear the word “no” many times in your life. It will come from family, co-workers, well-meaning trusted advisors, neighbors, friends and an assortment of other places. Don’t let “no” be the final word or end to a dream. Don’t quit. It’s like running water that hits a rock. It doesn’t stop, it goes over or around the rock and keeps flowing.
      • Be kind to others. Treat others as you would want to be treated. It’s something that I’ve taken to heart my entire life. It’s some of the best advice my momma ever gave me.
      • Hold the door open for others. Don’t forget to say thank you or send a “real” thank you card through the mail.
     • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Knowledge is power. No matter your age, you don’t know it all.
     • Treat your elders with respect. Learn from them. They have years of wisdom.
    • Take time to meet and get to know your neighbors and others around you. There are people who will cross your life path and are there to help you be successful.
    • Don’t pay much attention to the news or believe all the doom and gloom and propaganda on social media. I heard a story once of a car dealer in Arkansas. Sales had been slow for months. He challenged his employees to turn off the evening bad news and ignore the bad reports about the economy. Employees started speaking and praying good things over their business and before long, sales at the car dealership rocketed. It works!
    • It’s okay to turn off social media and live life. I need to do that more. Take an afternoon drive, call a friend, spend time with your significate other, work a puzzle, start a hobby, clean out the garage or go fishing. 
     • It is always better to give than receive. Do something good for a neighbor, a friend or even a stranger. Buy a gift card or some movie passes and give them away. Purchasing a sack of groceries for a family in need is a great way to give to others. Pay it forward!
      • Volunteer your time to help others. Make life better for others and your life will be better.
     • No matter where life takes you, don’t forget about where you came from. Your family and friends love and believe in you.
     • Slow down, pray and be thankful. You don’t have to do it all in one day or an afternoon. Take a vacation or day off and live life.
      • Take ownership of your mistakes and learn from them. Don’t give up, keep on walking.
    • Don’t be afraid to make a change in life. It’s never too late no matter your age to start over or try something new.
    • Some of the best wisdom I heard was from a friend – “People will forget everything about you, except how you made them feel.”
     • And lastly, don’t be late to work.
     Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.