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Go Forth Inspired With A New Attitude^[1]

Transcript of a Speech Given to the 2001 Graduates of the University of Washington Information School Seattle, Washington

Friday, June 8, 2001

By Herman L. Totten, Regents Professor & Associate Dean
School of Library and Information Science
University of North Texas
Denton, Texas

Thank you Director Eisenburg for that generous introduction.  Members of the graduating class, parents of the graduates, spouses of the graduates, families of the graduates, and friends of the graduates; capable members of the staff of the Information School, distinguished members of the faculty of the Information School, outstanding administrators of the Information School, and alumni and friends of the Information School.  It is a pleasure indeed to be asked to deliver the convocation address to this year’s graduating class of information professionals.

I spent a long time trying to come up with a topic for your graduation speech.  It was while reading the Sunday, May 27th, 2001 edition of the Dallas Morning News, that I saw a series of excerpts of speeches given to new graduates and these inspired me to challenge you as new graduates to GO FORTH INSPIRED WITH A NEW ATTITUDE.

It was in Psychology 101 that we learned this truth; “we see what we are prepared to see.”  The attitude is very much that way, the way we think, the way that we feel, often is determined by what we see happening around us.  We see what we are prepared to see.  Have you ever been flying with someone who knew the terrain around you; someone like the pilot on a commercial flight who comes over the intercom and tells you the things that are on the ground around you.  The pilot sees it because he is prepared to see it, and little by little the rest of the passengers will see it as well.  We see what we are prepared to see.

A few of you may remember Flip Wilson who said, “What you see is what you get.”  I know that I am dating myself now, however, “What you see is what you get.”  He reminds us that all the things around us can shape who we are going to be, or we can choose what is going to be.

Now if you put those two statements together, we see what we are prepared to see and “what you see is what you get,” we learn that the first is reminiscent of our attitude and the second is reminiscent of our accomplishment and what happens as a result of our attitude.  We learn that attitude is really nothing more than an outward expression of an inward feeling.  Most everything that takes place in life will be determined, in great measure, by our attitude.  Consequently, the way that we think and the way that we see is shaped by our attitude.

Let me share with you five things about the attitude that are critical for us if we are going to be all that we can be. 

NUMBER ONE, your attitude is your choice.  We choose our attitude.  Now you may be saying, well I already know that.  You know, I do not think you did.  Because if we know that we can choose our attitude then surely we would not choose some of the attitudes that we have.  How many of you have heard, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning because your are grouchy and complaining?  I saw a great poster once that said, “Did you wake up grumpy this morning?”  The wife says, no, I just let him sleep.  You know our attitude is a choice.  We choose our attitude.  Our life begins with conditions and we are born with conditions.  We do not choose where we are born, when we are born, our name, our home, or our family.  Since we do not choose those kinds of things, as we mature, we go from conditions to choices.  We are not just products of our conditioning, graduates, we are the products of our choices.   We begin by choosing our attitude.

One of my favorite stories is of a mother and daughter who are shopping, just before Christmas.  They are in the hustle and bustle of shopping, and you know how frustrating Christmas shopping can become.  They were in the checkout line, and upon completion of their transaction, the mother turned to the daughter and said, “Did you see the dirty look that sales clerk gave me?  I cannot believe the rude service.”  The girl looked at her mother and said, “Mom, she did not give you a dirty look.  You had that look when you came into the store.”  You see, we choose the attitude that we have.  We do not need a new set of circumstances, graduates, we need a new set of attitudes.

Ted, a young man of about 10 years of age, was growing up in the farm country of eastern Oklahoma.  Every morning Ted’s mother would wake him up at 5:30 A.M.  She would throw open the door, pull open the blinds and say, “Ted, this is going to be a great day.”  Ted would get up, mope through the house, get cleaned up, get dressed, and eat his breakfast. He would then go out and do his morning chores before leaving for school.  One morning after months and months and months of this, Ted had just had enough.  His mother came in as usual at 5:30, she opened the door, pulled up the blinds and said, “Ted, this is going to be a great day.”  Ted said, “No, it is not a great day Mom, it is going to be a terrible day.  I do not want to get up.  I am tired.  It is still dark outside.”  His mother said, “Well Honey, if you feel that way, just go back to bed.”  Ted lay there in disbelief as his mother left the room and  shut the door.  He said to himself, “Why didn’t I think of this before?”  Ted stayed in bed and went back to sleep for a while.  Around 9 o’clock, he finally rolled himself out of bed.  He stretched, he yawned, the sun was up, and it was a great day outside.  He could smell the aroma of breakfast, so he went downstairs.  His mother had been cooking breakfast and he said, “Oh Mom, Wow!  Breakfast smells so good and I am so hungry.”  And she said, “Well sweetheart, you don’t get any breakfast today.”  He said, “What do you mean I don’t get any breakfast today?”  She said, “Well you remember this morning when I came in at 5:30 and I said Ted, it is going to be a great day! And you said no Mom, it is going to be a terrible day.  Ted, as your mother, I am going to do my best to make it a terrible day.”  Ted was sent to his room, he went back to bed, and he was not allowed to do anything that day.  He just sat on his bed all day long.  He went back to sleep for a little while, but you know how it is.  After a while you just cannot sleep anymore.  He sat on his bed and twittled his thumbs and dangled his legs, because there was not anything to do all day long.  Ted missed breakfast, and lunch, and dinner.  Finally the next morning at 5:30, when his mother came in and threw open the door there was Ted sitting on the edge of his bed fully dressed and he said, “Mom, it is going to be a great day!” 

 Now, you see, your attitude is your choice.  We do not need a new set of circumstances, we need a new set of attitudes.

NUMBER TWO, your attitude will determine your approach to life.  Some have difficulty and struggles.  They have all sorts of trials, and yet they can smile all the way through it.  Others have an ingrown toenail and they act as if they are dying of cancer.  It is the worst thing in the whole, wide world.  They moan and complain all day long; you know those kind of people.  Some of you may be those kind of people.  I am here to tell you, it is not what happens to you, it is what happens in you that makes all of the difference.  Your attitude will determine your approach to life.

Grandpa had one of those handlebar mustaches.  The grandchildren always loved to see Grandpa fix his mustache just so.  One afternoon while Grandma was baking cookies, Grandpa went in to lay down and take a nap.  The grandchildren decided that they were going to have a little bit of fun with Grandpa.  They took a little bit of limburger cheese and smeared it into his mustache.  After a while, Grandpa woke up, [sniff, sniff], he said, “This room stinks.”  He walked out into the kitchen and [sniff] said, “This kitchen stinks too.”  He got himself a glass of water, walked out onto the front porch, drank his water and [sniff] said, “The whole world stinks.”  See, your attitude can determine your approach to life.  You have to decide, does the whole world around you stink, or is it what happens in you rather than to you that will make the difference?

NUMBER THREE.  Your attitude will determine your relationship with other people.  The Stanford Research Institute says that eighty-seven percent of our success in life is people knowledge.  Only thirteen percent of our success in life is product knowledge.  Isn’t that amazing?  Only thirteen percent of knowing what to do determines our success.  Eighty-seven percent of how we relate with other people will determine our success in life.  How far we go, how high we climb, or how good we feel.

Nordstrom’s Department Store is one of my absolute favorite places to shop; I do not often get to buy anything there, but I love to shop there.  It is one of the greatest stores ever.  Once, when ALA convened in San Francisco, I went to Nordstrom’s to buy a pair of black socks for the ALA Inaugural Banquet.  Now let me tell you what they did with an ordinary pair of black socks.  They wrapped it in tissue paper, they put it in a beautiful box with a top on it, and a sleeve the slid across the top of the box that had a Nordstrom’s envelope on it.  They handed it to me and said, “Is there anything else that we can do to serve you today?”  It was then that I saw the plaque right next to the cash register that said, “The only difference between stores is the way they treat their people.”  You know, they are right.  This illustrates how your attitude will determine your relationship with other people.

NUMBER FOUR.  Your attitude can turn your problems into positives.  I have done research on this subject and have found that every single positive must first have a problem.  Let me tell you something about problems.  The letter P reminds us that problems are predictors; they predict what we will become by the way that we respond.  The letter R reminds us that problems are reminders.  We are not alone, everyone has problems. The letter O reminds us that problems are opportunities.  Opportunities to rethink, to do better in certain situations, and to reflect upon our options.  The letter B reminds us that problems are blessings.  Every blessing that you have first began with a problem.  The letter L reminds us that problems are lessons from which we can learn.  The letter E reminds us that problems are everywhere.  They are all around us, and we must decide how we will work in and through them.  The letter M reminds us that problems are messages, just like the lights on the dashboard of a car that come on to tell us when something is needed.  Problems also remind us of things we need to take care of in our lives.  The letter S assures us that most problems are solvable.

Finally, NUMBER FIVE.  Our attitude makes us resilient.  This resilience enables us to live by a philosophy attributed to Johann van Reenen, the Director of Public Services at the University of New Mexico General Libraries, which is “Fail fast and fix it.”

I would like to quote at this point from Former President George Bush, speaking to Louisiana State University’s graduating class, May 18, 2001:

 …on trying:

 “I would simply encourage you to do it all.  And don’t be afraid of trying and dreaming.  And don’t be afraid of failure or tears.  Losing hurts and it can hurt a lot, but we all stumble and we all fear and that’s what makes us human.  But none of us should ever regret; none of us should ever sit at a grandchild’s graduation and think, ‘I wish that were me out there starting over again, there’s so much I would do differently.’  You have a lifetime of chances in your grasp right now.  But my advice:  Don’t lose any of them.  Don’t give up the chance to take a risk, follow a vision, touch a kid, touch a life.”

 See, your attitude can help you to handle failure.  Your attitude can help you in your approach to life.

In summary, Go Forth Inspired With A New Attitude:

1)    Your attitude is your choice!

2)    Your attitude will determine your approach to life!

3)    Your attitude will determine your relationship with people!

4)    Your attitude can turn your problems into positives!

5)    Your attitude can make you resilient!

I would like to conclude by quoting from Queen Noor of Jordan, speaking to the graduating class of the University of Arkansas, May 12th, 2001:

“With your energy, your education, your intelligence, you have much more to offer, not only to the world of work, but to the world at large.  Those qualities are needed more now than ever before… “

Thank you!

[1] The words of the Reverend Steven Davis Revisited.