A good read, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

A good read, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Thanks to Makbong and Makdik for introducing me the book back in 2007. I remember stay up all night watching his video on youtube. I'm impress, with his condition - he is capable of doing what he did and he mentioned that this is not for us, but for his children. Just like my sister in law, anim ( www.nimboking.blogspot.com ) did a diary for her kids. You may watch his last lecture on youtube (Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams in Cernegie Mellon, his former university).

The Last Lecture fleshes out Pausch's lecture and discusses everything he wanted his children to know after his pancreatic cancer had taken his life. It includes stories of his childhood, lessons he wants his children to learn, and things he wants his children to know about him. He repeatedly stresses that one should have fun in everything one does, and that one should live life to its fullest because one never knows when it might be taken.
In the book, Pausch remarks that people told him he looked like he was in perfect health, even though he was dying of cancer. He discusses finding a happy medium between denial and being overwhelmed. He also states that he would rather have cancer than be hit by a bus, because if he were hit by a bus, he would not have had the time he spent with his family nor the opportunity to prepare them for his death.

Above all, it teaches us to look at life at a different perspective and make me appreciate more been born as a Muslim as we have long been taught about, USAHA, DOA dan TAWAKAL. I share with you some of his many quotes that I like:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The 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. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”  

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

“Look, I'm going to find a way to be happy, and I'd really love to be happy with you, but if I can't be happy with you, then I'll find a way to be happy without you.”  

“Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one tenth the enrgy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out.”  

“People are more important than things.”  

“No job is beneath you. You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mailroom And when you get there, here's what you do: Be really great at sorting mail. ”  

“There's a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It's not something you can give; it's something they have to build. Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.”  

“The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls.”  

“Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.”  

“Not everything needs to be fixed.” 

Rokakyah
15.09.2014