Wisely, no schools asked me to offer their graduates words of advice, but unwisely, I think I’ll take a stab at it anyway.

I’d start with ice hockey. I tried to take it up in my mid-40s, with marginal success. But I learned something. The key to the sport as well as to life is wanting the puck. That’s easy when you’re just out of school, much harder as the years go by, so you have to keep reminding yourself.

Next piece of advice: Expect things to change. There will come a time when you prefer to go to bed earlier than later. There will even come a time when you’re happy the phone is not for you. I may be wrong on that last one, but if you have a teen-age daughter, it won’t matter. The phone will never be for you anyway.

Speaking of teen-age daughters, there is no greater guarantee of lasting humility than having one. No matter how arrogantly great your success in work and money, she will make it clear that you are a clueless, embarrassing, unhip soul.

Take windsurfing lessons. You’ll fall relentlessly. When you do finally stand, the breeze will send you in the wrong direction. It’ll take you six or eight sessions to begin to get it. But there lies the gift. Whether it’s windsurfing, marriage or career, the things hardest to master can bring the most fulfillment.

Career. It’s one of the most complex areas, and also the simplest. It’s true that your success will depend largely on your talents. But not alone. There are two other secrets to success. They are these: Work hard and be cheerful.

At some point, you’re going to stumble badly in your career. You’ll have a great crisis or failure. Welcome it. There was a Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk was given the power to change one thing he regretted in his past. He chose to turn a big failure his only one into a success. When his life flashed back to the present, he found he was now a junior officer instead of a captain. Having erased that bygone failure, he had robbed himself of the wisdom that later helped him rebound and become a leader.

One more piece of career advice. It comes from my father. I used to tell him still do sometimes about my schemes for striking it rich: an investment, a book, a screenplay. He told me he used to have get-rich schemes of his own. But none, he said, ever brought him the money and satisfaction he drew from focusing week-to-week on his job. He explained to me that a “last” is a shoemaking tool. Then he said: “Shoemaker, stick to your last.”

I think I’m supposed to say something about drugs. Let me say it quick before you tune out. When a lot of people my age were your age, we felt that liquor or grass added a rush to our nights. But we learned that life’s too short to do in a daze. As far as looking back fondly on those times, well, that won’t be easy because you usually don’t remember much from when you got high. Keep that in mind. It’s better to build memories than erase them.

As I’ve discussed, career is central, but there are deeper challenges. Like making peace with your parents, and making choices that are true to yourself. Like doing what’s right by your children, not what’s easy. Like resisting the impulse to blame others for your frustrations. Don’t ever forget that only one person has the power to chart your course. Placing blame is the quickest way to give up that power.

There’s a cliche you hear at graduations about spreading your wings. You should. And over time, you’ll doubtless want to keep doing so. But if you feel pressure to keep flying off in search of opportunity, listen to your heart first. Wings are great, but roots aren’t so bad, either.

Oh, one more piece of advice. Just as we liked hard rock, you doubtless like rap or hip-hop. But keep this in mind: Never buy a used car if the pre-set buttons are on stations that play any of those three genres.

Finally, let’s end where we began.

Don’t ever stop wanting the puck.