life lessons
On a chilly Saturday evening, I sit here, warming my feet by the fireplace and for the last hour have been listening to Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” - the title being literary but not intended to be. This is because the lecture series was built on the premise of what a professor would impart on the world had that lecture been their last. Tragically, Professor Pausch has terminally cancer and this would, literally, be his last lecture. So in the similar spirit of Morrie Schwartz from Tuesdays with Morrie, he imparted some of his life lessons to the world before his passing. And as a last lesson to everyone striving to achieve something great in their lives, I’m very certain that he succeeded in providing evidence that dreams can come true and that most goals aren’t achieved through luck but through hard work and perserverence. One of his main points was that brick walls in life were good … because they proved how badly we want things. The thing that touched me the most though was the very end, when he dedicated his last lecture not to his students but to his young children who likely will not remember much of their father.
What I was also reminded by Professor Pausch’s last lecture was that life can, at any moment, be cut short for any number of reasons. And that while tragic, Professor Pausch’s disease at least gave him the chance to speak to his young children, impart some of his life lessons to the world and thank the people that have influenced him in his life. I think we can only hope for an opportunity like that but hopefully the people we care about the most, will already know what we think about them. Anyways… I do believe that’s enough deep thinking for one weekend. Here are links: Wall Street Journal - Moving On and Professor Pausch’s Lecture. Cheers and thanks for the link Dave.
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