He Lives on Even in Death

This is a special tribute to a fellow baby boomer who inspired me to treat each day as if it were my last. Randy Pausch became a celebrity, of sorts, when he found out he was dying of pancreatic cancer. His “Last Lecture” was conducted at Carnegie Mellon University where he was a computer science professor. He gave his last inspirational speech at the University this past May.  If you haven’t seen it, please take a moment to do so:

Today Randy left us in the physical word, but his legacy will live on.

Best Quotes of Randy Pausch: October 23, 1960 – July 24, 2008

• Show gratitude. Gratitude is a simple but powerful thing.
• Find the best in everybody…. Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. It might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting.
• Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted…. I probably got more from that dream [of playing professional football] and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish.
• Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.
• When there’s an elephant in the room introduce him
• Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.
• We can’t change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I’m not as depressed as you think I should be, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
• Decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eyeore. I’m a Tigger.
• It is not about achieving your dreams but living your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.

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