“There’s no there. That elusive ‘there’ with the job, the beach house, the dream, it’s not out there. There is here. It’s in you right now.”
Brian Kenny, Sportscaster for ESPN at the Commencement Speech at Ohio Northern University, 2007
In this month’s brand new My Real Helper collection, we featured a website which contains some of the most inspirational commencement speeches ever given. We figured it was a good time to share the resource with our members and even write the letters they could use to connect with their contacts who knew of recent graduates.
While browsing the site myself, I came across this excellent quote and speech from Brian Kenny of ESPN. The entire speech is great, but it was item number three on his “Top Eight to Help you Enter the Rest of Your Life” which caught my eye.
His advice was taken from Gertrude Stein, and I wanted to share some of it with our readers this week:
“There’s No THERE, THERE. That’s from the writer Gertrude Stein. She’s right. There’s no there. That elusive “there” with the job, the beach house, the dream, it’s not out there. There is here. It’s in you… right now. That real happiness, real contentment has to be IN you regardless of professional achievement and amount of wealth. It’s not magically appearing with a job and a paycheck. When you’re young and struggling it’s easy to think; “If I could just get that job… get that girl… get that guy… that car… that house…that salary…” “If I could just get THERE… I would have it all.” I could finally be happy.”
He goes on to describe champion boxers he’s met who always thought that success would change their life, and how “arriving” at their championship moments did not produce the life-altering shift they expected. In fact, he says:
“Achievement and wealth were not an elixir for his problems. No there. Remember that. You are THERE, now.”
I love this. You are THERE right now. Go through your day with this thought in mind, and you might find yourself in better spirits. The trophy is today.
Photo credit: Julie Rybarczyk
