Life Hands Us Storms So We Can Paint Rainbows

Shame on you if you don't have enough strength within your mindset, in your heart, and in your soul to know that most success stories always have a humble beginning. You're not supposed to start at the top, you've got to grow it for the rest of the world to know it. It takes courage to be exceptional.

It takes courage to be wise. It takes courage to be rich. It takes courage to be educated. It takes courage to be knowledgeable because the moment you do it, you don't talk like you Oh, you God-forsaken place where you came from! I look at you. It takes courage! and I'm just wondering in this weak, watered down, mediocre society that we live in today.

I'm wondering if anyone still has the guts to say, "After everything I've been through, and everything my ancestors have been through, and everything my parents have been through," I didn't come through all of that just to fit in with normalcy I have the courage to go after my dreams. Do you have the courage? But when you look at what you're going to deal with and deal with the difficulties of it, when you handle those difficult things close at hand, you'll be able to deal with them more effectively.

Those hard decisions right now that you don't want to make, learning those things that you don't like to do, But you know that in order to get where you want to go, you have to jump through some hoops, and I'm telling you, whatever you've got to do, do it, because if you don't, life will whoop you until you surrender, so if it's hard, do it hard. It's necessary.

That you take responsibility for it, that you make it happen, that you don't give up, that you don't take any objection or disappointment or defeat personally, that you keep on keeping on, that you don't decide that you can't make it because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, that you realise that's a part of the programme and here's something you've got to resolve, say this to yourself every day.

LAs long as you're breathing and you've got a shot at your dream, that's the way I resolve to say this please: it's not over until I win, not over until I get through, not over until I get over, not over until I get what I want. You will cry. Some events in your life will make you cry. It's okay, it's part of the deal. If you can't handle pain, you can almost never fight, and most of you won't be successful.

I was born in the dark, shaped in the dark and moulded by the dark. You recycle your pain. You use your pain. Some of you are not successful because every single time you run up against the trial, every time you run up against the tribulation, you stop, and what I'm here to tell you is, if you kill that thing, I'm here and I promise you, I ain't leaving without the degree. I will not leave without that goal. I will not leave without that dream. I will not leave this university. I will not pass up this opportunity.