He had me at “hello”

I just recently read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch a professor at the climax of his career who discovers he has pancreatic cancer and has only months to live. This is one of the few books I have read this year that I strongly recommend.

Professor Pausch gives us plenty of amusing but thought-provoking anecdotes, as well as useful advice and inspiration to make the most of life. Instead of wincing and cursing he receives his death sentence with a broken-heart but also with good-humor. He was heart-broken because he knew he had to leave his wife and small children behind, but nevertheless he was good-humored because he was a born optimist and believed there is always a silver lining to any trouble encountered in life.

In the middle of reading this book I realized that it was not written for the reader but rather it’s his legacy to his children. All the life lessons a parent hopes to pass on to their children is captured in this book. Randy Pausch tells it like it needs to be told. He holds back nothing and at times I was moved to tears. Many times in our lives, we know what we should be doing but don’t always do it. The message that Professor Pausch tries to get across is that don’t wait till you receive a terminal diagnosis to start doing the things you always wished you could do, instead do them now. The book doesn't end the way you would assume, with death, but it ends with a life lesson. The lesson is to enjoy your life and fulfill your dreams. Pausch reminds us that we, too, can live our lives and die our deaths with honesty and integrity. After all, we are all dying people. Gandalf the Grey said it best "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." (Randy Pausch passed away on July 25, 2008.)