Motivational speaker Scott Greenberg used an elastic face and melodramatic gestures to tell tales of optimism and perseverance to the Taft Union High School student body on May 19.
Greenberg, 39, of Los Angeles, knows about adversity. Twenty years ago, he was diagnosed with a softball-sized, cancerous tumor in his chest.
Speaking on the auditorium stage, he said, "Cancer. It made no sense. I'm one of you. How could this be happening to me? I've since learned it's not just me. Every one of you will also get your cancer. I know you're thinking, "I thought he was a motivational speaker."
"You're all going to get some thing. The one thing in this world that does not discriminate is adversity. Your cancer might me an abusive household. You abuse yourself, cut yourself. You think other people have it OK, but you have no idea. Others of you have little problems that you blow out of proportion."
He told his teen audience that how they proceed in life is up to them. "If you have not enjoyed your time at Taft High that was your fault and if you have enjoyed your time at Taft High that was your fault. There are two types of people, those who light up the room when they enter and those who light up the room when they leave. You can either contribute or you can take away."
He told students to build bridges, not walls. "If you're smart, you're making friends, cultivating relationships. Don't miss out. The computer dorks of my day are the millionaires of today. You are stronger than you think, better than you think."
Greenberg compared their young lives to hot-air balloons about to soar but warned them of three potential sandbags holding them down: mental heckling (internal insecurities); appearance interference (worrying about what others think of you); and, comparisons to others.
When you do run into something too difficult to handle, get help, he said. If things are going well, give help to others. "Don't sit around and complain. Don't sit around and blame. Even the greatest leaders have advisers. Even the greatest athletes have coaches."
"Find someone with a bigger problem and help them. " The ultimate joy in life comes not from getting but from giving. Serve others."
Some of life's greatest gifts come from tragedies, he said. His cancer forced him to drop out of New York University Graduate Film School, where he hoped to tell stories through movies. But different doors opened and, for the past 17 years, he has told stories as a motivational speaker and he said he couldn't be happier.
While he was introduced as a successful speaker and author of his three books on leadership and a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the College Soul, he said a less-flattering introduction could have gone like this. "Please welcome the worst athlete at his school, a boy who once headed the soccer ball into his own team's goal, a boy, who on a skating date, knocked over his date causing paramedics to arrive, the junior high prom planner who had no date for prom, a man rejected by most colleges and dumped by his fiance."
"Become an expert at failure. The most successful people have failed a lot because they have tried a lot." Now, Greenberg's cancer is in remission and he is happily married to his wife, Rachel.
"I couldn't choose my situation but I could choose my reaction, and so can you."