The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

When I told my manager, Ms My, that I was doing some reading, she lend me her book. 

It was "The Last Lecture" written by Randy Pausch.

The book was really about his life and was very inspiring.
He had pancreatic cancer and had just months to live.  One of the things that he decided to do while he was still physically fit was to give his last lecture.  He was a professor, a scienist!

I want to share again the items that struck me the most.  The things that I want to relate in my life and to share to people who are important to me.

Time is Precious - especially when you are trying to win a battle over a terminal illness.  

When I look at my life, I am more inclined to spend my time with my family and friends rather than watch a movie or browse the internet.  One item that was mentioned in the book was "Emotional Insurance" -- aside from investing all our money for life insurance, we should invest our time for Emotional Insurance.  We will never realize it but the premiums for an Emotional Insurance is worth every memory that we can build with our family.  Thus, now that we have all the time in the world, let's make sure that we are investing them the right way.  Seing travel escapades, happy lunches and get together photos are more exciting and memorable than a branded bag (This is just me investing memories that can last a lifetime!).

Gratitude - Randy was very specific when he mentioned the people who have helped him along the way.  His parents, his wife and children, his colleagues, mentors and football coach.  He was very pleased and thankful for all the opportunites that were given to him. 

In our journey in this wonderful life, we will come across people whom will become instrumental for our success.  We need to recognize them as a special part of our lives and give back what we have achieved by thanking them. Personally, I am a recipient of good leadership, and I always make sure that I pay it forward.  We are sharing the wisdom so that future generations will realize the importance of gratitude. 

Brick Wall - according to Randy, "Brick Walls are there so that we can assess how badly we want something".

In all reality this is very true.  The things that we badly want are not easy to get, most of the time we need to fight for it.  I think what's important is for us to identify which of the Brick Walls in our lives are worth fighting for and which are just hallow brick walls.

Ask - many times in Randy's life and career all he had to do was to ask and most of the time he gets what he wants.

In our daily grind, whether at work or at home, it always pays to ask.  Most of the time it helps fasten processes or tasks, sometimes it even helps build long term relationship or even success in career.  

Coach Graham - Coach Graham taught him the fundamentals.  

On their first football practice, coach didn't bring any football.  He said that there are 22 football players in the field and only one is holding the ball.  He wanted to teach them what the other 21 people should be doing.

Sometimes we are more focused in shooting the ball, we forget how the game is played.  

Like in our lives -- we are busy achieving our goals and we forget about the little things that should matter to us, the fundamentals on why we are alive.  I am not discounting the fact that dreaming big is essential but we need to be always grounded and reminded on where our motivations and drive to succeed are coming from in the first place. :D

This book is just magical! If I will write my book maybe it will look like this and if I can share more information about this book, I could go on and on and I won't have space to write on!  This book is mostly shared in the corporate world and I hope you will also have the chance to read it! 

Again, let's nurture our lives! We can never tell when our time is up! 

Xoxo