I recently came across the late David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement address to the graduating class of Kenyon College. His compelling advice to those young adults about the “daily grind” issues a challenge to each of us, every day.
He says:
“Learning how to think” really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.
Read the transcript: This is Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzFNh2_dSBg