To Be or Not To Be

Today I would like to talk from the topic of To Be Or Not to Be.

As a historical reference the phrases To Be Or Not to Be is part of a line in the Shakespeare play Hamlet and it simply means is it better to live or die?  And when I thought about what I would say to you all and reflecting on some of the young people that I have known and still know who_____ was part of their education I thought that was a valid question. 

Now before some of you go and get all squeamish on me I AM not talking about the actual act of flat lining, although that’s what the original author was talking about I Am simply asking the question of To Be or Not to Be based on the time of year we are in.  8 days ago many of you in this room like countless other folks celebrated the start of a New Year and you made a few resolutions.  If you are overweight you made the resolution to lose weight.  If you are a part of the audience you may have made a commitment to graduate from ____ this year and someone of you it is not lost on me may have made a commitment to stop drinking or smoking or some of you may have made a commitment to do both, but nonetheless you made a commitment To Be or Not to Be.

The good part about whatever your commitment was you made a commitment, because it is not lost upon me nor should it be lost upon you that there are people in our existence who only commitment is simply to get by another day.  Now I have to be honest when I am asked to make speeches to audiences like you all I sometimes say or even suggest that your presence in the building much less in a seat is enough, but if I told you that simply being here was enough I would be lying to you because as I said earlier when Shakespeare wrote the words To Be or Not to Be he was talking about living and dying and many of you prior to making a decision to come to____ were breathing, which meant your were living, but you were actually dying.  You were walking around just like everyone else, but the decisions you made or were making simply said that you were trying to if I was Italian I would say whack yourself and if I were on my porch I would say murk yourself.  All of your conscious actions were saying I want to die. 

But by virtue of you being here today in your right mind and body it says that through all your efforts someone or something more powerful than you has a plan for your life.

Now being the guy that I am and having a firm commitment to the generation that will have to take care of me at some point I want to give you a three of things because of time that I think will help you in your quest To Be.

1. Make a commitment to something and because you are here I am going to assume        you are being prepared to do exactly that.  As part of that commitment to do something make every day a learning experience.  The people here at___ get paid to teach you and prepare you for industry.  Therefore, do not let a day go by where they get paid for not doing their job and I assure you disciplining you is NOT part of their job.

2.         Once you make a commitment to do something go hard or go home.  The worse thing you can do is waste space being just OK.  There is no such thing as an overnight sensation or having it easy.  Its called the road less traveled for a reason and only those who have made a commitment to going hard truly enjoy the fruits of their labor and have sustainable success.

3.         Lastly, make a commitment to serve.  Life is truly a quid pro quo system.  You have to give something in order to get something and if you still don’t get it you have to make deposits in order to make withdrawals.  The Bank of Life simply works that way and I know that at the end of the day we all have something we can simply share with the larger human family, but we have to start with people close to us. 

Matter of fact I suggest commit random acts of kindness.       

With that being said I will take my seat with the hope you have made a decision To Be more so than Not to Be meaning I hope you have you have made a decision to truly live than visibly dying.

Carpe Diem meaning seize the day...

Namesake and thank you for having me…

I AM Dr. Irvin PeDro Cohen