Randy Pausch

A few months back, I was watching The Oprah Show, and the guests that day were show regular- Dr. Oz, the girl from "Crazy Sexy Cancer", and Randy Pausch. The only guest I recognized was Dr. Oz. I had no idea that evening when watching, that my life would be forever changed by these people. The show was about death. A morbid subject most people would rather not talk about. A subject as Americans, we do not deal well with. I, however, became inspired, changed, more alive. It sounds crazy I know, but it's true. Death made me rethink my life.

Randy Pausch gave a modified version of his "last lecture" on the show and even though he spoke about stuff I clearly did not understand (he is some sort of engineer), I understood his underlying message.

Live for today.

This is something that I've heard many times in quote books, from teachers, etc. You know the saying, "Do not put off today, what you can do tomorrow." Or the one that goes, "Live for today because tomorrow may never come." Although these are great words to live by, I found myself more connected with someone like Randy because he was actually LIVING for today.

You see, Randy is a man who is currently living with pancreatic cancer. He's been in and out of treatment and hospitals. He is married and has three young children. (2 sons and a baby girl). His specialists predicted about 7 months ago, that he had 6 months to live. And that's exactly what he's doing. Living.

His words truly inspired me to look at the way I live my life. I made several vows to myself that evening after watching the show and doing some serious soul searching. Those vows- enjoy my life. Live my life for me. Love like I've never loved before. Tell people you love them- everyday. Live each day with inspiration and love. Don't try to tackle everything- life won't end if the dishwasher doesn't get emptied!

These are just a few of the ways I try to live my days. I am not sick, I am not terminally ill. I have no reason to be scared to die. I just learned that evening, that this life I've been given is precious. And I only get to live it once.

To keep tabs on Randy (should you be inspired by him as well), please check out his link, as he tries to keep it updated on a regular basis.

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html