The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

So just yesterday I finally finished reading a book that I cant describe in just words. I was at the Final Remarks part and from the start of that chapter till the end of the book I cried because I could just imagine the pain and seeing as this was a real story the pain felt just as real too but dont think that this book is just a sad, sad book because its NOT! Stress on NOT as a matter of fact some of the humour in this book will mind boggle you and the most important part of the book is the hard hitting life facts and positivity it teaches one. Anyways it will usually take me like only a few hours to finish a book that thin but unfortunately I've been busy thesedays as most of you might have noticed. My aunt actually lend me this book and to be honest I'm always a sceptic when borrowing my aunts books and this is because she reads real heavy duty books that my brain sometimes get blurred half way through but when she suggested me the book and I saw how thin the book was I was like heck I'll give this one a try and that's a choice I'm so happy I made.

So what is this book about? This book was written by a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, Randy Pausch (who was dieing of pancreatic cancer) with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow. He actually gave a lecture tittled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" and this is what the book was about. Last Lectures are actually quite common amongst professors who wish to end their careers and it is done as a mark of the things and knowledge they would wish to share before their life ended sooner or later and what most professors do is imagine a situation where they were dieing but in Randy Pausch's case he didnt need to imagine since the doctors told him he only had a few months left to live. Randy had a wife named Jai, 6 year old son named Dylan, 3 year old son named Logan and 2 year old daughter named Chloe. So what this father of three wanted to do was leave a mark of himself for his children to remember him and to teach them all the things he would have wanted to teach them if not for the cancer so his last lecture was never intended for us if we didnt want it but belive me you will want it. The lessons he shares with his children are vey much things we human beings simply forget or just havent learned about it yet.

Above: Randy with Logan and Dylan while Jai with Chloe


Now for a few things and lessons that this book shared with me to make me feel more inspired than ever by a form of writing (in no particular order) is:

1) " If you can dream it, you can do it."

2) " Just because you're in the driver's seat doesnt mean you have to run people over."

3) " When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore that means they've given up on you so you're better or having critics because often they are the ones who care about you and want to make you better."

4) " If I work hard enough there will be things I can do tommorow that I couldnt do today."

5) " Brick walls are there not to keep us out but for us to show how badly we want something."

6) " Luck is indeed where preparation meets oppurtunity."

7) " We cannot change the cards we're dealt just how we play the hand."

and the most important of all

8) " If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." So have dreams and always believe in them but basically dont obsess about them because if you live your life the right way they will come true someday whether in one way or another because thats what Randy Pausch did and he made them all come true in his way

Above: Randy's favourite picture with his kids Logan, Dylan and Chloe

I must say the lessons I just quoted from the book is only less than a quarter of what the book has to offer. Plus there's a story behind each of these lessons pretty much, this was how he had learned the lessons and believe me the stories will really paint you a more detailed and just stunning picture of these life lessons that are so valuable. It also stuns you again at the beauty of family. So... GO BUY THIS BOOK BECAUSE YOU WILL SIMPLY NOT REGRET IT!

* When I become a parent one day I'm going to read this book again so for all the people that are soon to be parents or already are you know you just have to read it.

Signing out,
Sharanya