Thanks to Wifely Steps, I found myself spending the last couple of hours watching Randy Pausch’s last lecture. I tried to post the video but was unable to for some reason (brick wall!) so here’s the link on youtube for anyone interested in watching the whole thing.
Randy is very inspiring. He didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said before but it is his attitude that resonates and stays with you.
The most salient lessons/reminders for me were:
Never lose the child-like wonder
Never give up.
Brick walls let us show our dedication.
Don’t bail, the best gold is at the bottom of the barrel of crap.
It got me to think a whole lot, especially where my life is currently going. I have hit a lot of brick walls and so far, even with the latest one, I have never let it stop me from doing what I have always dreamed of doing, even if people and circumstances have not always been favorable.
Like Randy, my imagination as a kid was fired up by Disney. Up to this day, I can still picture in my mind the exact graphic and text on that dog-eared Disney encyclopedia set that my mom bought. Why she bought it, I don’t know but those books opened a whole new world for me and going to Disneyland as an adult reminded me of a time and place where sky was the limit.
Randy’s situation also reminded me of my dad. He died last year but was diagnosed with his heart condition ever since I was in high school, when doctors told him he had to undergo a bypass or else. The or else lasted longer than we had hoped for and even if he passed away last year, we had a whole lot of bonus time with him. I hope, too, for Randy’s kids, that he gets to stick around for a while longer. Found a site where he has updates on his condition.
As an adult, I find it harder and harder to get inspired about something. But this got me inspired again. I feel like I have to go back to the days when my imagination ran free. I haven’t had those days in a really, really long time and it’s about time I brought it back.
