Randy Pausch

I came across this story in Sept. of 2007. I was watching the news and Randy Pausch was the person of the day on ABC News. So I watched his lecture and I just cried. I read his Blog daily to see how he is doing. http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html

Today in the Sunday paper, in the Parade, they had a article on his Last Lecture. If you can make time on Wednesday, April 9th, at 9p.m. central time Diane Sawyer will have an interview with Randy on his Last Lecture. It is a very heart warming and inspirational story. You can also check out this website http://www.thelastlecture.com/aboutr.htm. It is called the Last Lecture, and gives information on a book.

We should all live by "The Lessons I'm Leaving Behind" by Randy Pausch:

1. Always Have Fun-I believe we get to busy with schedules that we forget to have fun.

2. Dream Big-"Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kid's dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes."

3. Ask for What You Want-"Ask. More often the you'd suspect, the answer you'll get is, "Sure"."

4. Dare To Take a Risk-"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted. And it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer."

5. Look for the Best in Everybody-"If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you." Sometimes we get frustrated and angry with people because we haven't given them enough time but "people will show their goo side. Just keep waiting, it will come." This one I think is so true, because I feel we write people off to quickly with a first impression.

6. Make Time for What Matters-"Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think." If you have relationships with anyone, especially Family, I believe you need to take advantage of the Quality time you can spend with them. I have seen this in my life, so much, in the last few months. Your children grow up, your parents age, and you have unexpected losses that can just throw a loop in your life. Then and only then do you realize that you should of spent more quality time with that person.

7. Let Kids BE Themselves-"Kids, don't try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become. And I want you to feel as if I am there with you, whatever path you choose." This is a hard one because I feel as parents we want the dreams WE have for our children to be their dream also, when we should actually be helping our kids foster their own dreams and give them the tools to fulfill their own wishes.

I hope you all find time in your day to enjoy it and the people that surround you.