Achieve your Dreams!

Last Friday, 47-year-old Randy Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer. Many of you will recognize Pausch as the husband, father of three, and innovative computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University whose “Last Lecture,” delivered last September, has been watched by millions on the Internet and more recently was released in book form. Well aware of his incurable disease, Pausch said, “[I'm] trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children.”

Here are several of the key insights he wanted to leave behind for his children:

Never underestimate the importance of having fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day because there's no other way to play it.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
No one is pure evil. Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.
Brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand. If I'm not as depressed as you think I should be, I'm sorry to disappoint you.
To Think About ...

While Randy Pausch’s death is a tragedy, all fathers would be wise to learn something from his story—that was the purpose of his lecture. We should imagine ourselves in his situation and make positive changes that will make a difference in the years, months, or days we have left with our children. We shouldn’t wait until we’re confronted with our own mortality to make a conscious decision to invest ourselves more in areas where we’re truly indispensable: relationships with those we love. We should make it a habit—every day—to examine our priorities and make choices about how we can best use every moment of life.

Additionally, we can follow Pausch’s lead and start thinking about what “message in a bottle” we want to leave behind for our children. What are the most important principles and life lessons you have learned to embrace? How do you want your children to remember you?