The Last Lecture

I was reading a book on my honeymoon lately (I only did this when my wife was asleep and I wasn't). It was by a professor (Randy Pausch) from Carnegie Mellon who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with 3 - 6 months to live and the book was about his final lecture. As I read the book I was moved by his words of wisdom. His advice were cliché yet it reminded me of Randy's opinion of clichés, "... The reason clichés are repeated so often is because they're so often right on the money". However, it wasn't his words of wisdom that moved me to tears or touched me most.

Devotion for His Children

As I was reading the book, I kept feeling as if Randy was in front of me leading me through life and its challenges. Every advice is supported by experiences he encountered. Very rich experience I might add. I couldn't help but felt that he wanted to share his valuable experiences with his kids when they're older, through his last lecture. I was proven right when in the Final Remarks section of the book, he mentioned that the 2nd "Head Fake" of the lecture was that it was really for his kids. One lesson from Randy's life is his devotion to his kids and the line that moved a hard person like me to tears was "It pains me to think that when they're older, they won't have a father. When I cry in the shower, I'm not usually thinking, 'I won't get to see them do this' or 'I won't get to see them do that'. I'm thinking about the kids not having a father. I'm focused more on what they're going to lose than on what I'm going to lose". Growing up in a single parent home, I would understand some of the questions that will go through his kids' mind although I may not have a full understanding. I know that if my father left me a legacy as Randy did for his kids, it would have been reassuring and a good model.

Devotion for Jai

In his last days of living, he could have chose to be self-focused, seeking sympathy for himself. However, he dedicated his time to his wife, spending quality time with her. That was not all, a lot of planning was put into a life without him and though not explicitly mentioned, I'm sure it involved financial aspects, family support for Jai (hence, their move closer to Jai's family) and dedicated section of the book for Jai.

Selflessness in Helping Others Achieve Their Childhood Dreams

Throughout the book were repetition of the phrase, childhood dreams, though I lost count after reading a quarter of the book, it was already very clear that it was repeated many times because it was his passion. His heart's desire to help people improve is commendable and if only we all thought that way, the world would be a better place. The thought of this reminded me of the "Recovering Jerk" section of his book. Many lives are impacted by this man and many more will benefit, I'm sure.

Emphasis on Fundamentals

There were a lot of times that his emphasis was to go back to the basics. In a section of his book he shared of how he teaches his students on teamwork before commencing his computer science class. I am a strong advocate of this and I remember in those days that I was active in competitive swimming. I started swimming learning strokes that were not quite correct. To correct those basic strokes took a long time. So Randy is spot on about getting the fundamentals right.

The Last Lecture epitomises the devotion of a husband, father, friend and lecturer. It is one of those much needed light in the darkness and violence we faced in the world today. Personally, it got me thinking about how I would lead my life in impacting my wife, family, friends and those around me in a positive way.