Randy Pausch is a 47-year-old computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In September, Pausch said goodbye to his students at with one last lecture called "How to Live Your Childhood Dreams." Millions of people have seen all or part of Randy’s “Last Lecture” on either You Tube or the April 9th ABC special that ran on this incredible man. Those who have seen either the full lecture, or the many abridged versions call it the lecture of a lifetime.
Unless faced with the unthinkable ourselves, who among us knows what we would do and how we would react if we were faced with the finite. Randy Pausch has chosen to use the time he has left to inspire others by sharing lessons he’s learned on his life’s journey.
I can’t do justice to the message this man has to bring to those who take time to really listen to his words, but I can say that what he has to say is nothing short of life-changing. Here are just a few tidbits of his amazing wisdom:
On living: “If you live the right way, Karma will take care of itself”
On career setbacks: "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren't there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things.”
On adversity: “In the face of adversity, don't complain, just work harder. Your patience will eventually be rewarded.”
On Anger: “I have never found anger to make a situation better”
On criticism: “Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care”
On patience: “You might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting.”
On life: “We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Life is to be lived."
Tim McGraw recorded a song a few years back called “Live Like You Were Dying” It was about a man in his early 40’s who was told he had a short time to live. When asked what he did when he heard the news, he said he went skydiving and rocky mountain climbing.....and he loved deeper, spoke sweeter and gave forgiveness he’d been denying. He said “I hope someday you get the chance to live like you were dying.”
You or someone you love may have heard the unthinkable words: “There’s nothing more we can do…we expect you have a few months.” Like Randy, my husband heard those words when he was the same age Randy is now: 47 years old. What we and the people around us instantly gained was immediate clarity on what was important: relationships and time. Precious…sweet…time.
Phil’s been gone 6 years this June. Life gets in the way and sometimes I forget the lessons I learned 6 years ago. God bless you and thank you Randy, for the reminder on what is really important: "You can't control the cards you're dealt, just how you play the hand."
Please take time view the original full lecture from Randy’s Last Lecture at Carnegie Melon below, or at the very least, one of the shorter abridged versions. I am not exaggerating when I say it is life-changing. I've included links on the right, or you can copy and paste the links below into your browser:
Full Carnegie Mellon version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Not as much time? This one is about 9 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgyuYHXqlO4
View the ABC special
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3633945&page=1
Note: this is another in a series on inspirational people.
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