Chris Kay's Motivational Mondays: Randy Pausch

jessi988
Sep 22, 2014
3 min read

This Motivational Monday is a story of Dr. Randy Pausch. Who shared an enlightened view on life with the world through his now well-known “Last Lecture”, which he gave to his students at Carnegie Mellon University. Professors are often asked to give this type of lecture sharing what wisdom they would leave behind if they knew it was their last lecture ever. For Dr. Pausch, this truly was his last lecture. Being diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and given only a few months to live, he decided to give the lecture based on his actual current state.

In the lecture, Dr. Pausch does not highlight any pity, he does not talk about the cancer, the treatments he has tried, or even his family- leaving them said to be ‘too important to talk about’. Instead, Randy Pausch explains the certain points that made him life a wonderful life. The first point being that we must realize the importance of people vs. things.

A memory of his that he talks about in the lecture is when he bought a brand new car and went to go pick up his niece and nephew to take them for the weekend. His sister was telling the children to not get Uncle Randy’s new car dirty…while in the background, Uncle Randy is pouring a can of soda all over the backseat of the car. The kids start laughing and Randy’s sister turns around to see what he is doing! He explained to the kids that it’s just a thing, just a material…there is no need to have such an obsession over a thing!

In today’s world, we are constantly smothered with material objects and there is a strange focus of keeping everything we own held up on a pedestal. The inspirational wisdom of Dr. Pausch is telling us that the newest and hottest item is nothing of importance compared to our loved ones.

The next points that Randy touches on in his lecture have to do with working and playing well with others. Such simple lessons learned as children seem to sometimes disappear in adulthood. He explains that to sincerely apologize, to tell the truth, and to show your gratitude towards others can simply create an amazing life. Being kind to everyone you meet will create good karma and if you have this in your life, then your dreams will come to you. By opening our hearts and allowing love to flow outwards as well as inwards, we expand the ripples of good energy that attracts the dreams and life that we want.

And one of the last points that he states is that you must look at your life and determine whether you are going to be a Tiger or an Eeyore. Being a Tiger sets your life up to be positive, fun, and above all, full of love!

Dr. Randy Pausch did not sit around and mope his last few months of life, instead he chose to continue to live life as he had for the past 47 years, dreaming and spreading his joyful outlook to others. He left behind his wife and three children, which he tearfully but proudly dedicated his last lecture to.

His words and wisdom has inspired many and he will forever be remembered for his knowledge and Tiger-like spirit.

You can watch Dr. Pauschs’ full lecture by clicking here.

Dr. Pausch also wrote a wonderful book called The Last Lecture