I look around the room—at the pleading faces looking for answers. For hope. Who was I to give it to them? If only they knew the truth about the person in front of them. I would be looking towards them for an explanation. Standing on that podium, I was inundated with this sense of burden and respect towards the crowd: they cared. They wanted to find meaning in their life. They might have been giving up but decided to shoot one last shot here. In this hall.

I couldn’t give up on them. It didn’t matter who I really was; it couldn’t.

“Suffer the perils of today for the hope of a better tomorrow. A better tomorrow for you. For your kids. For your grandkids. For your friends. For your neighbor. For the man you met on the sidewalk the other day.

“While the neverending endeavor seems pointless, it represents the meaning of this all. Life. Existence. The truth is that we were meant to live. Enjoy. Fulfill. The mission of life is to stuff it full of successes, failures, laughs, cries, emotions and memories.

“So if today was bad, keep going. If tomorrow is even worse, keep pushing. One day it’ll get better but until then find solace in the life you build and the world you support.”