If you were asked to give the lecture of your life envisioning yourself dying in a few days, What would you say? What is it that you would want to convey to the world, your loved ones , your friends and colleagues if you knew it was your last chance to do so?
When the author Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon university was asked to give such a lecture he didn’t have to imagine himself dying as he was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only a few months to live.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a memoir and biography that narrates his last days after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. This is a piece of sharing from a man who suddenly finds that his living days are now numbered.
Randy, a dying man, wanted to leave a legacy for his children, a guide that would help them achieve their dreams, and a medium to share with his children that their father would soon be dead and not be a part of their lives. In this pursuit, he did what he was good at- ‘Lecturing’.
He said-
“If I were a painter, I would have painted for them.
If I were a musician, I would have composed music.
But I am a lecturer. So I lectured.
And so, He named his last lecture – “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”.
The pages take you through his touching life journey and will force you to re-evaluate your life choices. Randy shares his experiences and provides a deep insight into his life, his beliefs, his inspirations and the motives that drove him.
This book is about overcoming obstacles in your life, achieving your dreams while enabling the dreams of others and seizing each opportunity you get to make a memory because – “time is all you have… and you may find one day that you have less than you think.”
It acts as an reminder to the fact that life is unpredictable and while we have it we should be grateful and never have any regret in our lives
Randy rightly said, “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”
The experiences, situations, the decision phases that he faced feel valid to our lives as well . The morals, conclusions, and wisdom that he shares through his lecture gives a solution to some or the other situation that we might be facing in life.
This one is my absolute favorite book of all time and a story that inspired me and helped me overcome the hesitation of re-evaluating my life choices. It inspired me to take chances and work hard to achieve my goals and reassured me that even if I fail, I would have the satisfaction of having tried and not giving up.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a must-have on everyone’s Book list.
