Thank you, Randy Pausch

If you don’t know who Randy Pausch is, this is somebody that you really need to check out. He is a 47 year old professor from Carnegie Mellon who is dying of pancreatic cancer. He is the father of three young children, who are not aware of his illness, and he has given a lecture on how to live life, a lecture which he says is intended for his children once he is gone. To say that Randy is an extraordinary human being is an understatement; his strength in the face of adversity will surely become legendary and many will benefit from his life lessons. I know I will and already have. If you google Randy, you can find the Last Lecture in its entirety or if you are pressed for time, there is a nice synopsis of his original lecture from an episode of Oprah (thank you, Miss Oprah). He has also released book, and a DVD based on this now famous last lecture. I get goose pimples just thinking about his enormous contribution to the world simply by sharing his story. Thank you Randy. I will keep you and your beautiful little family in my prayers…

I first learned of Randy from watching an a recent interview with Dianne Sawyer (thank you Miss Dianne.) Shortly thereafter, I read a Parade magazine article summarizing his life lessons. It is from that article that I briefly share this remarkable man’s philosophy of life. The title of the article was “Randy Paush, The Lessons I’m Leaving Behind.“ (The words in the parenthesis below are mine).

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?” (Randy has chose to be a Tigger.)

Dream Big

“Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids dreams too. Once in a while, it may mean staying up past their bedtime.” (He was referring staying up to watch footage of man’s first walk on the moon. Funny how we can take for granted the dream that it took to put a man on the moon!)

Ask For What You Want

“Ask. More often than not, the answer will be sure.” ( How often do we stand in our own way by pointing out all of the obstacles that keep us from reaching our goal when sometimes, the answer is as simple as asking. Who knew!)

Dare to Take a Risk

“Attempt hard things, don’t worry about failing….Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted.” (Imagine the freedom we would experience by not worrying about all the what ifs ….awesome.)

Look for the Best in Everybody

” If you wait long enough, people will impress and surprise you…this takes patience, even years, in the end, people will show you their good side.” (I believe we see in people what we choose to see, which is often a reflection of ourselves. )

Make Time for What Matters

“Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.” (Check out the Jim Croce song, “Time in a Bottle“. Bring a tissue)

Let Kids Be Themselves

” My job is to help my kids foster a joy of life and develop the tools for fulfuling their own wishes.” (By doing so, we in turn give ourselves the freedom to be like children again, where anything is possible. It’s a win-win situation:) )

Please take the time to learn more about Randy, I guarantee it will be worth your while. On a personal note, I recently took a leap of faith and tried a couple of things that I wouldn’t normally do: I asked somebody I was interested in out for a date, and I entered a contest that I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in-you-know-where of winning. The results? I crashed and burned on the prospective love interest (nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?), BUT I won a scholarship for the Photo Biz Boot Camp for photographers!!! Whoo-hooo! !!! The workshop is run by a multi-talented, brilliant, and extremely generous woman by the name of Liana Lehman . The workshop is designed for photographers wanting to take their business to the next level (that me!) I am thrilled beyond belief, this opportunity is a prayer answered. The Boot Camp is scheduled for the end of the month in Atlanta, GA. I will blog about how it goes when I return:) I will share the honor with two other scholarship recipients, Beth Daane and Ellen Mc Raney. Beth and Ellen have inspirational stories of their own, you can check them out at http://www.BananasEDU.blogspot.com. Congratulations ladies, I can’t wait to meet you both!

I hope that after reading this blog, you will want to check out Randy Pausch and learn more about him and his story. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have found some inspiration from him too. Be well and have an awesome day!

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 and is filed under Amazing People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.