What Starts Here Changes the World
There is more to be said about the “movers and the shakers” in this world beyond what those two words suggest. These doers are out and about stirring up hearts, minds, and souls; they are putting into motion their internal drives; they have activated the stuff that can make a difference in their lives and in ours that can bring about change. Their vision of life and their place in it is different from that of most of us. They can see far ahead to a time and a place in which we all have moved onward and upward free from the shackles that hold us back. They are the practitioners of what “can be” that even philosophers and other deep thinkers know little about. They have met the enemies within, and they have won a victory over them. They have conquered complacency, fear, and that inner voice that drags most of us down—the voice that tells us “no, you can’t.”
How can we know them? I don’t have the answers. But we can all understand a little about them by their actions. One is the present chancellor of the University of Texas. I have never met him, but I know a little about him from his bio. He rose up to the lofty rank of Admiral in the U.S. Navy where he served for 36 years as a member of the U.S. Special Operations Command, better known as the Navy Seals. Along the way he collected 30 or 40 awards and decorations. He served in five combat zones, and he led the operation that found and eliminated Osama bin Laden as a threat to everyone. His name is William H. McRaven, the longest serving member of the Navy Seals.
It doesn’t take long to size someone up by the tenor of their voice, the strength of their convictions, and by little bits of humility that transcend the pomp and circumstance that others heap upon them.
If you shun public speaking (as I do), because you understand your limitations, then you need to watch and listen to Admiral McRaven inspire his fellow Texans. If you love public speaking, then you are about to be inspired by someone who is really a warrior, not a speaker. He is a classic example of how to speak with conviction and with humility, how to inspire without really trying, and how to kick start that time honored bit of wisdom known as “how to change the world.” Many have taken on this challenge. Few have done it well. No one has done it better than Bill McRaven.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this superb lesson in how to change the world from someone who has lived it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K13p1DlsDMQ
That was the first commencement speech that I have heard in many years, but I don't believe it was the best. The examples that Chancellor McRaven gave about military who changed the world by taking the right path and saving lives seemed to be more like serendipity than the many examples he gave of perseverance and personal discipline.
Personally, I don't like to see military leaders, business people, accountants, medical doctors, lawyers, coaches and politicians leading universities. While they may be great leaders and highly successful in their professions, making them admired by boards of trustees who do the hiring, they generally don't have a long record of higher education teaching, service and research, the key components to understanding and forwarding all aspects of what higher education is. To me, the best university chancellors and presidents would be philosophers. But they are the lowest paid (and respected?) Even though the highest degree is named after them.
I've been watching Naked and Afraid and Alone. Two reality shows that don't rig the outcomes except to save the participants from death or serious injury while doing these, very perilous, survival trials. I can't recall any Navy SEALs participating, but they may have along with a number of military veterans. Unfortunately, these very tough and seemingly strong individuals are usually some of the first to "tap out," or as McRaven would put it, "ring the bell."
Women, sometimes just ordinary women without any major achievements, seem to be the most capable of enduring the pain and misery of going without for long periods of time. Very, very few could survive the lives our ancestors did as little as 10,000 years ago.
Ron