A Serious Life Message from Conan O'brien?

This is another video that is old news. Conan O'brien gives his farewell speech on his final night of hosting the tonight show. He hosted it for 7 months while Jay Leno moved to the 10:00 spot... a somewhat risky move for NBC. The politics of this decision by NBC, and the subsequent public backlash and support for Conan and Jay that followed were very interesting and certainly deserve some worthy commentary. However, that is not what I want to comment on. For those of you that watched this speech live, or have watched the video/speech afterwards, it is certainly a memorable speech. It was kind out of character for Conan to get kind of sentimental and show emotion, but he did it anyways.

What touched me about this speech, and is the reason I am so fond of it, is the part, where he speaks to "fans and viewers of the show." It is in the last 30 seconds if you're reading this and don't have the patience to watch a 4:30 youtube video. He says something to the effect of, "If you work real hard, and you are a kind person," then you will go far. That is such a simple, but effective message. You can tell that he truly believes it because it looks like he's fighting tears at certain moments in his speech. In fact, I would go as far as to say that that moment on TV was one of the top 10 greatest moments in TV history.

The reason I can relate to this, is that I've been unemployed for about 7 months now. It is most certainly not by choice, and I've been actively seeking employment ever since I was laid off. The competitive job market and the ridiculous stuff one has to do to even get an interview these days can feel real demoralizing at times. However, I've always kept a positive attitude, and really feel like I've lived up to what Conan mentioned. I've worked real hard, and I ALWAYS treat people how I would like to be treated, which is with the utmost kindness (even telemarketers and door to door solicitors).

I guess I really just like that message. It is such a short and simple message, and strangely enough, I've never seen that kind of message promoted elsewhere. "Work Hard and Be Kind," and you will go far. It really makes sense, and is a great philosophy to go by. I think that it will truly get one far, although it may not be as simple as I am putting it.

I hope that if you read this, you will be touched by those words and always remember in your heart, that if you work hard, and are a kind person, good things will come to you.

I live by that mantra, and couldn't prove them wrong, even if I wanted.