Opening Day Letter; Something to Reflect on

Last Opening Day, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves, telling us all about our present selves and also about who we want to be after the program. Then we gave it to the staff for safekeeping. I am guessing that these will be returned at the end of the semester..

After that, a member of the previous cast shared his letter to us, and it was so beautiful. Sharing this also with you...

Dear Andrew,

Listen carefully; I have something very important to tell you.

This is a remarkable world, and it deserves all of the attention you can give it. Let everything inspire you. Focus on yourself and all that is around you. Find the patterns. Search for the differences. Understanding these will help you make sense of your life. It will help you break the habit of falling down in the same place where you’ve always fallen down before.But be warned, it’s a hard habit to break.

You are about to journey to far corners of this world and in every one of them a secret is waiting to be revealed to you.You’ll have to keep your eyes open to see them. You can’t keep your heart locked up like a secret if you’re going to realize that you are so much more than just yourself. You are a part in the great mystery of everything.

Just think, for a second, of every thing that’s happened to bring you here today. Not just your life, but all the lives that came before you.

You can believe in anything, God or the ground beneath your feet, to know that your existence and presence here today and in the world is what they mean by ‘miracle’.

Now think of what could be waiting out there for you. All that is about to happen that you cannot control. Families across the world who will welcome you with open arms. You may never really know if people can change. But you are about to learn that experience can change everything. Your actions can spread. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and the love you give can expand, coloring everything in your life that came before it. Love expanding. Now there’s a concept that could change the world. So keep your eyes on your heart and nothing else. You’ll find, with this, that your heart will lead you to the truth. The truth, which is not your emotions, or attractions, or excitements. The truth is strength where you were once weak, compassion where you were once ignorant, and kindness where you were once cruel. You must give these gifts to yourself before you can give them to others.Because love is a choice, not a feeling, and it’s only the brave who ever really make it.

Be kind when no one is watching, and treat those you grow to love always with compassion first. But don’t be so hard on yourself when you don’t.

Always ask – what is it from this that I am meant to understand?What is it the world is really teaching me?Because the world has taught us lies.That we can live a full life alone, but that we need others.That we should put ourselves first. That we should take instead of give.That to love and have joy should be easy. And that our words need not have meaning behind them. It’s not the world’s fault it’s lied to us – it can’t help itself.But it’s our fault for believing the lies, and we don’t have to any longer. So – appreciate humanity. Appreciate this earth and everything in it. It needs you now, and it’s every atom, if you allow it, can inspire you to grow and change.

Have fun, close your eyes, spread your arms and forget yourself and how to breathe. Everything you know is over-rated, everything you’ll ever learn will someday be forgotten. And to be lost is to be free.

This experience is not about the moment that came before, or the moment that comes next, it’s about the truth you open your heart to in every moment that you are in. It’s a gift to close your eyes, raise your head to the sky, and see light where there should be darkness. The world is waiting for you, right now, to teach it something new. So teach it loudly. Life begins today, just as it began yesterday, filled with possibility.Have faith. Do not be afraid. That which is true will never leave your side.It is never to late to turn what’s wrong around.You are about to build a family around yourself. So Welcome Home. Build your life with pride, and kindness. Beginnings do not last, it’s what you do with what you’ve started that will determine the worth not only of this experience, but of your very life.