I’ve been feeling a little heavy-hearted the past couple of days, and I’ve been pondering what subject I should post about that would be educational. Rather than education, I find myself veering toward inspiration.
I’ve mentioned Randy Pausch in previous posts (as well as his book, The Last Lecture) and as I sat at the computer to write this post, it’s the one thing that stood out in my mind. Watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture and reading the book impacted me and inspired me. A lot of his story hits me so close to home that it gets me at the very core of my heart.
Randy is 47 years old and is dying of pancreatic cancer. But when you listen to him, he doesn’t talk about dying. He talks about living. And he talks about achieving your dreams. He is passionate about helping others achieve their dreams, and he talks a lot about other people … those who enabled him, as well as those he has enabled. He shares a lot about overcoming obstacles … tackling those “brick walls”. The brick walls, according to Randy, are there to show us how badly we want something.
It’s important that we seize the moment. Why? To quote Randy, “time is all you have, and you may find one day that you have less than you think.”
Seize the moment. Think about who or what is your brick wall, and what it will take to get over that brick wall. Help others achieve their dreams … ENABLE others to achieve their dreams. Be a Tigger, not an Eeyore. So many statements from Randy resonate through my mind.
Live your life today. Love, support and appreciate those in your life. Not only do you feel good when you do so, it comes back to you ten-fold. And there’s simply not time to live any other way.
I’ll close with the quote that I’ve often seen used when Randy is mentioned:
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
~ Randy Pausch
To Randy and his wife, Jai, thank you for the reminders, the lessons, and the inspiration.