Academy Awards Host Comedian Conan O’Brien shared about his upcoming Harvard University Commencement Speech on New Heights with Hosts Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, Conan’s Fanboys since they were in middle school.
Conan O’Brien said, “I like being around young people who are optimistic. Because it’s really easy to get cynical or to start feeling like you’ve seen it all. You can just enter that phase of your life where it’s easy to go down that road. And to me, the antidote is, be around young people. A lot of the times, you talk to them. You think, ‘Wow, these people are really smart. They seem to get it. They have a lot of energy.’ I think we’re in good shape moving forward. You know people get very dour about the future, especially adults and older adults. And you’re around young people, you can kind of feel that we’re in good hands.”
I’m 64 years old, a year older than Conan. We share the same practice. I stay around young people, who are up to something in life. That keeps me young. Rather they keep me young.
My time has passed. Time is undefeated. I know what I have. I know what I don’t have. My youth has long since faded away. That’s the human design. I do whatever I can for young people. It’s about them, about the next generations, about the future. Young people give me life back, too. They keep me young inside my old body.
It’s easy to succumb to the fleeting design of life. Nothing is permanent. Everything constantly changes. I came into life wanting to make a difference for others. I believe young people get that, too. Inherently, they want to make the world a better place. That’s their responsibility. It’s their world. Conan and I believe we are in good hands. I try to make a difference for them, too.
The late Mizukami Sensei would spend an entire Aikido class teaching a 10-year-old how to do kotegaeshi (wristlock). I’d watch 80-year-old Sensei patiently instruct a little kid how to do a complicated Aikido technique. Mizukami Sensei said, “Kids are not going to learn unless they have fun.” That ingrained in me over the years. Kids need to have fun. So, did Sensei. Sensei stayed forever young inside teaching kids and young people. He had fun.
Mizukami Sensei was a father to me. He taught me, “Just train. It’s not like you have to get somewhere.” He taught me to take a risk, take a hit for what’s meaningful to me. That’s the possibility of having a meaningful life. Sensei taught me about life. I’m forever thankful for him.
We had a lot of fun together. Sensei asked me for rides to parties and various Aikido functions. We talked about his Los Angeles Lakers. He joked when I couldn’t follow directions from my car navigation system. We had lunch after Aikido Class on Sunday morning. I watched Super Bowl at Sensei’s home and ate pizza.
I never saw Sensei as the Old Man. His heart was forever young. I’m grateful that maybe I had something to do with that. I loved Mizukami Sensei. Although he passed away several years ago, Sensei still stands by my side.
My late Dad and I had our trials and tribulations. Whatever fear I had inside growing up as kid, was on me to fix. I worked on myself, not on Dad. Several years ago, my cousin Monica sent old photos of Dad. I looked at Dad’s high school graduation portrait. I saw this young handsome man with his whole life ahead of him. Sometimes, we forget that our parents were once young. That they had their own dreams looking to the future. Was Dad satisfied in how his life turned out?
Dad’s great love for fishing kept him young. He shared his love for fishing with me in the twilight years of his life. Every July for 17 years, we fished together in Kenai, Alaska for a week. On the Kenai River, Dad was free to be himself, doing what he loved most on Planet Earth. That kept him young. Maybe, spending time with him had something to do with that, as well. Maybe my greatest gift to Dad. I’m proud of that. Maybe, Dad was proud of me, too.
I teach Aikido to teenagers like Jason and Isabel. They love Aikido. They’re really good at it. They can be great. They’re up to great things in life. Jason wants to study Business. Isabel wants to study Mechanical Engineering. They inspire me to work on myself, to be the greatest I can be. So that I can help them be the greatest they can be. Yes, that goes both ways.
Like Mizukami Sensei taught, I teach Jason and Isabel to enter the attack and take a glancing blow if they have to. They’re not always going to get away scot-free. It’s one time. They can take a risk, can be brave for what’s meaningful to them. They can have meaningful lives.
I teach them to throw with their feeling out, from their strength inside, from their one point, ki. They let go their fear inside. They don’t hold their fear inside. Although that fear inside never completely disappears, it becomes less and less. They free themselves more and more. They look inside and find that they’re stronger than they know. They free themselves. They’re free to be themselves.
I give away whatever I have that’s useful, that’s meaningful to the next generations. That keeps me young inside. It’s not all about me. It’s about the future generations, about them. My time has passed. This is their time. They can make the world a greater place. I believe we’re in good hands.
I have more years behind than ahead of me. Time is undefeated. That’s the human design. I know this. My body tells me this. Staying around young people, who make a difference, who are up to greatness keeps me young. They keep me young. I see the possibility in who they are and who they can become. Making a difference for them keeps me young inside, too.
