Every year, Universities in most places choose a commencement speaker who is inspirational in some respect to impart wisdom on the graduating class. One of my favorites this year came from Mark Ruffalo, one of my favorite actors – you may know him as Hulk in The Avengers. Great wisdom and a challenge for all of us. Here’s an excerpt.
“I’m here to tell you that activist is not a dirty word. And I’m here to tell your parents that, as well. I didn’t expect to be an activist — I sort of stumbled up on it because in the words of Larry Kramer, one of the AIDS activists and a mentor of mine, you have to fight for what you love.”

I especially love the “FIGHT for what you LOVE.” We can’t afford to settle – it puts us on the path of unhappiness.

Ruffalo went on to say,

“And so I’m asking each of you, at some point, to act up — be misbehaved. Buck the system. Fight for what you believe in. This is the time to do it. You’re the ones to do it. Your world, like no other generation, you actually get to create the world that you can imagine. And never in the history of mankind has it been so available to so many people to do that thing. And I am so excited to be here with you today and I am excited to see you go out and do wonderful things that I know you’ve learned to do. And don’t be afraid of anything.”

Fighting for what you believe in hopefully means fighting for what is good and SERVING the needs of many. We can’t wait for someone else to do it, it is us, you and me, to BE and Lead the change we need to see for the sustainable development in our families, communities, country, this great continent and the world.

It is difficult and physically/emotionally draining work and dangerous in many cases – but when your heart is in it, the sky is no longer the limit.

Thank you Mr. Ruffalo for reminding us that we have what it takes to tackle the issues of today, and yes that may require a fight – and fight we must!