11) RANDY PAUSCH’S LAST LECTURE
I was intrigue by a moving piece in the Sunday supplement Parade
magazine of April 6, 2008 by Randy Pausch, a young professor at
Carnegie Mellon University and father of three who, upon learning that
he was dying of pancreatic cancer, delivered a last lecture at his
university setting forth his now well-focused thoughts on life, which
was summarized in the Parade article. Here are a few excerpts from this article. “Always Have Fun …Each
of us must make a decision best captured in A.A. Milne’s
Winnie-the-Pooh characters. Am I a fun-loving Tigger or a sad-sack
Eeyore? ... I won’t let go of the Tigger in me… Dream Big …
Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids’ dreams too. Once in a
while, that might even mean letting stay up past their bedtimes [to
experience some worthwhile event on TV]. Ask For What You Want …Ask. More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, ‘Sure.’ Dare To Take a Risk … Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted. And it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer. Look for the Best In Everybody … In the end… people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting. It will come. Make Time for What Matters … Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think. Let Kids Be Themselves …Kids, don’t try to figure out what I wanted you to be become. I want you to become what you to become what you want to become. And I want you to feel as if I am there with you, whatever path you choose.”
To
this I would like to add something I read somewhere. “Live each day as
if may be your last. Learn each day as if you will live forever.”
