Randy Pausch

I was told by a friend today that Randy Pausch is no longer with us. You may have noted that I have links to both his "Last Lecture" and his lecture on Time Management on the sidebar and they are equally worthy your time.

I've recently finished reading his book The Last Lecture whose link is also on the sidebar and would like to share a few of the passages that stayed with me.

Randy shared some of his cliche's and I loved this from page 146 "Dance with the one who brung you. That's a cliche my parents always told me, and it applies far beyond prom night. It should be a mantra in the business world, in academia, and at home. It's a reminder about loyalty and appreciation."

From page 148 "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted", this is something he said in the lecture and its been running in a loop in my head ever since. I actually add character to this little nuggett. The last nine months I've had a fair amount of not getting what I wanted and it helps me make sense of some days.

From page 171 "If you can find your footing between two cultures, sometimes you can have the best of both worlds." WOW, who I am today is a mother who works outside the home. Daily I am torn between the two worlds that I live in and it is exhausting. For the last two years I have put all of my energy into trying to find a way to make it all work. While I have always adored being a mother, for a good part of Garrett's first year I was not walking my talk of being a fully engaged parent. I see our move back to Texas as the beginning of my quest to find a place where I can say my family comes first and actually live it. When I read "footing between two cultures" I said, yes, yes this is what I'm trying to do. It conjures up an image of me straddling two balance beams with one foot on each and when necessary both feet on only one beam. Neither position is easier than the other, they both require focus.

From page 200 "...some of the best caregiving advice we've ever heard comes from flight attendants: "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." ... When we become physically or emotionally run down, we can't help anybody else, least of all small children. So there's nothing weak or selfish about taking some fraction of your day to be alone, recharging your batteries." What great validation. Sometimes I wonder if Mitch and I aren't doing enough parenting, cleaning, cooking, whatever because we do make time for our passions. But we always come back to it makes us better parents, spouses and employees. Yeah, reading this was validating.

I wasn't sure I'ld do a good job of explaining why this man's passing, a man who is a stranger, is affecting my life because its simply that he resonated with me. Hopefully, sharing the passages that I can't shake give a little insight.

lovemon