We are living in a unique time.

You are therefore a unique graduating class.

You may well be known forever as the COVID class.

For the first time in history, billions of people including healthy people,

and people living in free societies have been confined to their homes.

So let me offer you three lessons about life based on what you've experienced.

Number one, life is hard.

It's unfair. It's unpredictable.

Until now, most young people, at least in the West, did not appreciate how true this is.

You've been living in a time and place in which so many of life's hardships have been overcome.

You've probably lived a healthier, safer, and freer existence than almost any young people who ever lived before you.

And if that is true, you would only know about how hard life is if you've read about the sufferings of others,

such as the awful suffering people endured during World War I and II,

not to mention the starvation and disease of the medieval and ancient worlds.

Because of the hardships caused by the coronavirus,

including the shattering of millions of people's livelihoods and dreams throughout the world,

you've come to sense how hard life is.

And that understanding equips you to deal much better with life's challenges,

which are inevitable.

Number two, always be grateful.

Gratitude is probably the most important trait you can have,

because it is the source of both happiness and goodness.

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