The Last Lecture

Many of you have probably heard of Randy Pausch... a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who delivered his "last lecture" after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I watched it on You Tube last year... and it REALLY made me think... reminding me to value & make the most of the time I have. He encourages everyone to really achieve their childhood dreams, while reminding each of us how to live our lives. I remember watching his lecture... have thought about it several times over the past year... and then saw his book. I bought it... (put down "Breaking Dawn" - the last book in the "Twilight" series)... and WOW... what an inspirational book! Randy Pausch had such great words of wisdom... "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." (17)... "The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." (51-52)... "You can always change your plan, but only if you have one." (108)... and one of my favorites... "Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore?" (180). I encourage everyone to read this and/or watch the lecture http://www.thelastlecture.com - I promise it will be time well spent. As for me... I have started reading "Breaking Dawn" again and love it... but I will always keep "The Last Lecture" close by and I am sure I will read it several more times... and I hope one day my kids will read it because I agree with Randy Pausch, "A parent's job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams." (197-198)... and this book is a great tool to do that!