Someone got invited and served as inspirational speaker/guest of honor during the Junior and Senior High School graduation of my alma mater in elementary...haha
I wrote my speech with much difficulty, because the event was a few days after the elections. How can I inspire others if I'm feeling discouraged myself? But God used that event to remind me of His promises and I can only attribute finishing the message in 3 hours to His divine intervention; so I'm saving a copy here. I drew inspiration from my own experiences and some principles from The Significant Woman course:)
To the school administrators, officers, teachers and staff, parents, and to the proud JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL graduates, a pleasant good morning to all!
I can only imagine how happy you must be feeling to have a face-to-face graduation ceremony after years of not seeing your friends in person due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. I am a bit envious as I did not have this opportunity. I graduated, interned, took the board exam, passed and became a doctor all during the pandemic and kumbaga sa relationship, parang walang closure, so I am glad you get to have this experience, and I am even more privileged to be part of it.
I can still remember the speaker and the message when I graduated from elementary here in LZDS many years ago. She was a lady of advanced age, in pink, and she shared about the parable of the talents, a story from the Bible which I hope is known to all of you, and which says, “Those who proved faithful with little things will be entrusted with more, and to those who were not, even what they have will be taken away.” I carried that message with me, although today, I won’t be telling the same story but my prayer before I begin is that you’ll listen like I did that day, and that you’ll be able to pick up a thing or two that you can carry with you even many years from now. My goal isn’t to impress, and I thought hard about how I can encourage and inspire you this morning, so instead of talking about a foreign story anyone can deliver, I decided to share my own, and highlight the wisdom from God’s Word that I’ve held on to and have brought me to where I am now.
When I was your age, a typical middle child at that, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. I had talents, but I was not passionate about anything, and it didn’t help, modesty aside, that I was good at a lot of things, so there I was applying for entirely unrelated courses in different schools. Some people are innately go-getters, and if you are one, who knows exactly what you want to do and how to get there, good for you; but if there are some among you who were like me then, just going through the motions, I can tell you from experience that it’s ok, you’ll get there. But the question is how do you get there? Will you avoid doing anything until you’re completely sure? No. You still have to decide what course or strand to take; and by this time, I believe most of you have already chosen. So what should we do? We pursue it. That is Lesson # 1. Pursue your unique calling. That is also the gist of this entire message and if you take that to heart, my work here is done. At the risk of sounding cliché I would still say it – We are all created unique. Our gender, physical make-up, personality type, strengths, weaknesses, gifts, values and belief system, life experiences, skills and abilities, and key relationships all make up our uniqueness. And I would like to emphasize the word PURSUE, because it is not a one time thing. My 16, 18 year old self had absolutely no idea that I will become a doctor at this age. But I got here by pursuing my calling at that moment – to be a good student; then my next calling after that, and the next.
So continuing my graduating from high school story, after much prayer and discernment, considering all my strengths and weaknesses, my calling was still not clear, but what worked for me was to honor may parents’s advice.I know there are parents in the crowd who are probably pleased with that message but allow me to emphasize that I was in limbo at that time and had no idea what I wanted. But that is lesson # 2, let me say it again, honor your parents. It is also the first commandment with a promise. The Bible says “that it may go well with you.”. And I can attest that it did with me and my sisters. If you do not have your parents, you can refer to the key relationships in your life, the people who truly know you and love you. They were placed in your life for a reason. And when in doubt, you can turn to them for affirmation and wisdom on the next steps you must take.
So I took up Nursing, and eventually found my niche in the healthcare profession. Being in healthcare is challenging, physically and mentally, and it would be very hypocritical of me to not admit that I questioned myself many times, “Is this the right field for me?”. So now let me share with you what kept me going, Lesson No. 3 – Always do your best. A permanent attachment as a footer in all my emails is Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Whether it’s a simple homework, a reading assignment, or a major exam, let the acid test be “Did I do my best?” In a result-driven world, your best will not be the same each time. There will be excellent bests but there will also be so-so bests and that’s ok for as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and honestly say that I did my best. I recently had an 18 year old patient who consulted due to intermittent, unpredictable palpitations. She had no prior history of a heart or thyroid problem and even after thorough assessment I could not find a possible physical focus that can explain her condition, except that she was very thin so I considered Micronutrient Deficiency. She also had poor sleeping habits so I explored on that as well. I asked her about her usual day. She’s also a student. So I asked her achiever ka ba? Dati daw pero hindi na ngayon. Then I said, pero natututunan mo naman yung dapat mong matutunan? Yes daw. Then I told her yun naman pala, Best Effort lang tayo ate. Pag di na kaya, pahinga ka na. And then she suddenly cried in front of me, so aside from medications we also did some counseling. I had to remind her that the “BEST” of every individual in different fields or situations is also unique. We cannot force ourselves to pursue the calling of others, but until we get to a position where you can choose that very specific path you want to pursue, I encourage you to keep doing your best; for you will never discover what you’re truly good at if you settle with mediocrity. And it will not only help you discover your calling with clarity, it will also build your character.
So I did keep doing my best. I was committed to being the best nurse I can be. Because I have been doing my best, I was aware of my limits, and I was confident that I could do more. I thought it was within the nursing profession, so I enrolled in a masteral program; but just when I was about to enter 2nd semester, God opened a door for me, when I was offered the opportunity to enter medical school. I asked God, Lord why now? God has His own timeline but the most obvious answer was we never could have afforded it if I went straight from nursing to med school. My father is an excellent provider but he was aware of his limits and he was careful not to enter into something he could not sustain, and break all our hearts in the process. And I understood that, so I committed to growing where I was planted, as a nurse. But my Lord and Creator had bigger plans, and my only role was to decide whether to take the plunge or not. It was still in healthcare, so I knew God was not trying to confuse me, but it was a whole new different level that would require a drastic change in all of my plans. I’m a doctor now so you can guess what I chose, but it wasn’t as easy at it sounds. It was the most difficult lesson that I had to learn in pursuing my calling - Lesson # 4, Take courage and get out of your comfort zone. I took one full year to decide but at the same time I already took steps towards that possibility so I balanced work with reviewing for the NMAT and looking into the application requirements of different schools. The Word from God that I held on to was James 1: 17 which says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The opportunity to become a doctor was a good gift, but I had to test if it was perfect. I talked to my family, explored scholarship options, and looked for ways to make the transition as smooth as possible. And up to this day, the Lord has been proving to me that it was indeed a perfect gift, because it was from Him. If I decided to stay in my calling as a nurse then, I imagine I would still be in a good place, but I would’ve missed out on all the challenges, the adventures, and the opportunity to do more for my patients. And isn’t that what pursuing our calling and living a life of significance is all about – to be able to help and extend God’s love to others. In your not so far future, you’ll find yourselves choosing between equally good options too; and when you are clearly called to jump in, I hope that you too, will find the courage just do it, and entrust your journey to God.
I believe that’s long enough, so now allow to me summarize the lessons I’ve shared with you today:
Lesson 1 Pursue your unique calling
Lesson 2 Honor your parents
Lesson 3 Always do your best
Lesson 4 Take courage and get out of your comfort zone
I have more, in the same manner that you’ll collect your own life lessons as you continue in this journey. Don’t be too excited to get older; instead, focus on pursuing your calling at this moment, and allow God to lead you to the next. Congratulations and I pray that you’ll all discover your personal mission and aim for lives of significance all for the glory of God!
Thank you very much!
