I have never met this man. Unfortunately, I will never get to meet this man. He died on July 25, 2008. Despite this fact, this complete stranger had a positive impact on my life.
He showed me that no matter how hard life can be, no matter what is thrown at you, you still need to have fun. You still need to smile. You still need to work to achieve your dreams.
He did this for me through the magic of Youtube. Randy had learned that he was dying of pancreatic cancer. He was given the honor of performing "The Last Lecture" at Carnegie-Mellon University where he was a professor. This is an annual tradition where a retiring professor gives his final lecture as if he was going to die. For Randy Pausch this was the real thing.
The lecture was put on Youtube and as of this writing has probably been viewed between 10-20 million times. The lecture is quite long at an hour and a half, but it is well worth watching.
If you have watched the lecture, you probably know what I mean by finding it inspiring. If you haven't watched the lecture, stop reading this right now and go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
After you watch the lecture I strongly recommend that you also watch the ABC News piece on him at http://abcnews.go.com/gma/lastlecture
If you don't have tears in your eyes after watching the ABC News piece, there has to be something wrong with you.
What Randy showed me is that if he can smile though he knows he is dying, I can still smile though I have to deal with the difficult issues of raising a disabled child.
For a very long time after having Dylan, I was just living on a day to day basis. I was incapable of making any real concrete long term plans. After watching the Last Lecture, I realized that I have to keep on living, I have to continue trying to achieve my life's dreams. I have to plan ahead.
Here's just a few of the items I want to do:
-When I moved into my current house, it had a nice sized empty basement. The perfect space for me to build a home theater, something that I have dreamed about for a very long time. A few weeks after we moved Dylan was born, and that dream just stopped. I am now in the process of building that home theater and hope to have it finished in a few months. I am going to throw one heck of a Superbowl party this year.
-I am going to snowboard this winter. Ive never tried it, but have always wanted to. I'm going to fall on my butt quite a few times and I am sure that I will love every minute of it.
-I am going to run a half marathon in 2009. I know this sounds funny from a man who is way over weight, but the funny thing is that despite my obesity, I love to run. I used to run quite a lot when I was in law school. I just allow to many other things to keep me from doing it. I have always dreamed of running a marathon. I don't think I will be ready to run a marathon next year, but if I put my mind to it, I could run a half marathon in 2009 and maybe a full marathon in 2010. I am simply not going to let this dream stall anymore like it has for the last few years.
These are just a few of the dreams that I want to accomplish in the next year thanks in part to Randy Pausch and his unwavering spirit. From watching the Youtube video and the ABC News special, I get the feeling that Randy would have been a heck of a fun guy to hang out with.
Having a disabled child is not the end. Death is the end. Randy Pausch showed me that even when the end is coming, you still need to have a smile on your face and you still need to live your dreams...
He showed me that no matter how hard life can be, no matter what is thrown at you, you still need to have fun. You still need to smile. You still need to work to achieve your dreams.
He did this for me through the magic of Youtube. Randy had learned that he was dying of pancreatic cancer. He was given the honor of performing "The Last Lecture" at Carnegie-Mellon University where he was a professor. This is an annual tradition where a retiring professor gives his final lecture as if he was going to die. For Randy Pausch this was the real thing.
The lecture was put on Youtube and as of this writing has probably been viewed between 10-20 million times. The lecture is quite long at an hour and a half, but it is well worth watching.
If you have watched the lecture, you probably know what I mean by finding it inspiring. If you haven't watched the lecture, stop reading this right now and go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
After you watch the lecture I strongly recommend that you also watch the ABC News piece on him at http://abcnews.go.com/gma/lastlecture
If you don't have tears in your eyes after watching the ABC News piece, there has to be something wrong with you.
What Randy showed me is that if he can smile though he knows he is dying, I can still smile though I have to deal with the difficult issues of raising a disabled child.
For a very long time after having Dylan, I was just living on a day to day basis. I was incapable of making any real concrete long term plans. After watching the Last Lecture, I realized that I have to keep on living, I have to continue trying to achieve my life's dreams. I have to plan ahead.
Here's just a few of the items I want to do:
-When I moved into my current house, it had a nice sized empty basement. The perfect space for me to build a home theater, something that I have dreamed about for a very long time. A few weeks after we moved Dylan was born, and that dream just stopped. I am now in the process of building that home theater and hope to have it finished in a few months. I am going to throw one heck of a Superbowl party this year.
-I am going to snowboard this winter. Ive never tried it, but have always wanted to. I'm going to fall on my butt quite a few times and I am sure that I will love every minute of it.
-I am going to run a half marathon in 2009. I know this sounds funny from a man who is way over weight, but the funny thing is that despite my obesity, I love to run. I used to run quite a lot when I was in law school. I just allow to many other things to keep me from doing it. I have always dreamed of running a marathon. I don't think I will be ready to run a marathon next year, but if I put my mind to it, I could run a half marathon in 2009 and maybe a full marathon in 2010. I am simply not going to let this dream stall anymore like it has for the last few years.
These are just a few of the dreams that I want to accomplish in the next year thanks in part to Randy Pausch and his unwavering spirit. From watching the Youtube video and the ABC News special, I get the feeling that Randy would have been a heck of a fun guy to hang out with.
Having a disabled child is not the end. Death is the end. Randy Pausch showed me that even when the end is coming, you still need to have a smile on your face and you still need to live your dreams...
Posts
1 comment:
Oleg, I saw Randy for the first time on Oprah. He did his lecture and I was crying by the end of it. (i'm a HUGE sap if you havent figured that out by now!)
He was/is incredibly inspiring and his ability to put his life into perspective so quickly touched me.
His life and death have touched more people than I am sure he or his family will ever realize.
Post a Comment