" alright, alright, alright "

I had locked myself in the law school library on the Sunday of the Oscars, which was a huge shame because it’s probably my favorite event to watch on TV. So, I only had the chance to watch the recording about two days ago.

I always look forward to hearing the speeches because once in a while, there’s someone who breaks the norm of literally reading a list of names they want to thank and says something extraordinary; something remarkable; something worth remembering, and even writing about.

This year, I felt like there were three such speeches since they are the only 3 that I can remember off the top of my head. The first was Jared Leto’s, the second Cate Blanchett’s.

However, this post is going to be about the third, because it inspired me to stop and think—so much so that I felt the urge to write about it.

That speech belonged to Matthew McConaughey.

“There are three things on my account that I need each day. One, I need something to look up to. Another, something to look forward to, and another is someone to chase.”

This was the thesis, so to speak, of his speech in which he went on to explain what each of those things is in his life.

He presents one of the most inspirational ideas I’ve heard in a very long time. Even though I feel like there’s something inherent about what he’s saying (in that I think that each of us have things that keep us going on, trying to survive, go through life with all the challenges it presents to us along the way), it hadn’t occurred to me so clearly until I heard the words come out of his mouth.

I certainly have things and people that I look up and forward to, and things that I want to chase. However, I have never taken the time to really sit down and think about what each of these things are, or could be, and hearing him speak in such a fluent and committed manner made me want to do just that.

So here it.

“One, I need something to look up to.”

I always thought that my answer to this would be my mom and dad, or just my mom, or just my dad—some combination of the two. However, now that I come to think of it, I realize that there isn’t a single person or thing that I look up to in life. Rather, I think I’ve developed this person in my head who doesn’t have a physical form, name, or voice, but is rather just there with all the values that I have attributed to her (I think it’s a she). These values are an eclectic collection from people who I’ve read or watched about who have inspired me, very specific traits belonging to various people in my life, fictional characters that were created by someone else, and of the anti-me—all the characteristics I used to have, but have made a significant effort to get rid of or change. Therefore, the thing I look up to is actually this mental image of the person I inspire to be, created by me, but as a result of tens, or even hundreds of others I have somehow come across in my life.

For Matthew McConaughey, this “thing” to look up to is God because he believes that God has given him opportunities that could not be explained by any other medium or force. I would want to give the same answer because I do believe in a higher power, but I feel like the thing I look up to is not God or a higher power, but rather my selections of the things he has created or allowed the creation of.

***

“Another, something to look forward to…”

I think my something to look forward to is life itself. Perhaps I’m able to give such a simple-sounding (yet perhaps the most complicated) answer because of the current stage in life that I’m at. I’m only 22 years old, which means that I hopefully have so much more to look forward to. Every day, I wake up with a reason to keep going, because there’s always something that I know is going to happen; whether it be set in stone, or just a gut feeling.

Right now, the biggest things I’m looking forward to are finding a job, graduating, and traveling after graduation. Even though I don’t know where I’ll be living next year, where I’ll be working, what I’ll be doing, and with whom, the fact that these are all things for which I will have answers to in somewhat of a short amount of time keeps me motivated.

And then there are other things, further into the future, that I know and hope will happen, but just don’t know when or with whom, which are different than these shorter-term aspirations, but no less inspiring or encouraging. These are things such as getting married, having my own family, picking a place to live, etc.

***

“And another is someone to chase.”

I’ll explain this one using Matthew’s words, and his words only because I don’t think it can be said any more beautifully:

“And to my hero. That’s who I chase. Now, when I was 15 years old, I had a very important person in my life come to me and say; “who’s your hero?” and I said; “I don’t know, I gotta think about that, give me a couple of weeks”. I come back two weeks later, this person comes up and says; “who’s your hero?” and I said; “you know I thought about it, and you know who my hero is?” I said “it’s me in 10 years.”

“So I turned 25 ten years later, that same person comes to me and goes; “so are you a hero?” And I was like; “not even close! No, no, no!” She said “why?” and I said “because my hero is me at 35.”

“So you see, every day, every week, every month, and every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I’m never going to be my hero. I’m not going to attain that—I know I’m not, and that’s just fine with me cause that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing."

“So to any of us, whatever those things are, whatever it is we look up to, whatever it is we look forward to, and whoever it is we’re chasing, to that I say Amen!, to that I say Alright, Alright, Alright!”