Last Lecture

So as you might know, Im back in town.. First week of Dutch life was really good, no rain (yet), a lot of sunshine (but still with some freezing cold air), a lot of interviews (gotta work to get where I want), and ofcourse a lot of loved ones!

But you're not here to read about how cold it is (as you probably know for yourself..) you're here to read smt interesting..

During my 10 something hours flight back to NL, I had to switch airplanes in Kuala Lumpur. During this 3 hour break I started reading possibly one of the best books Ill ever read.. I wanted to cry even after just have read one page. It was the LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch. You may have heard from him, his wife visited Oprah to tell his story..

Let me search for a summary:

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”


--Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

So this book was a last gift Randy wrote for his children, to tell them more about himself (they were to young to have real significant memories about him), how he lived his life and his life advice. The actual story was in a lecture and I added it as a youtube, since I am at the university and we don't have sound here I haven't watch it either! I know it will be a tearweeper.. But this man, the know-it-all that he was, was such a out of the ordinairy man! I don't even know if I should write more about it are that you just should buy/rent the book and read it for yourself. It really will add some spiritual value to your life! About how to appreciate time, because it is limited.. About appreciating your loved ones, because they aren't immortal. About letting go the small stuff, because a dirty sock isnt worth a fight.. About your life, because you can always improve yourself and your environment!

xoxo little J