Recommended Read – The Last Lecture

How many times does it take to get your attention?

I have decided to takes three times to get mine. 

I have had several experiences the last couple of months that, finally, after hearing or seeing something the third time I figured someone was trying to send me a message and I should do something about it.  So I’m a little slow sometimes….

Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #1:  Several months ago someone recommended the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch to me.  Being the book addict that I am I went right out and bought it – and didn’t read it.

Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #2:  A couple of weeks ago in church someone quoted Randy Pausch in their talk -”Oh, yeah I bought that book, I should read it”

Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #3:  I record Oprah everyday and manage to watch about one episode a week.  The one I watched last week was an episode that was a repeat from last year.  Guess who was the guest? Yes, Randy Pausch.  “I guess I should read that book”

Well, I read the book “The Last Lecture”(I added it to my Recent Reads list on the right side of the blog.)  The book is based upon a lecture that professor Randy Pausch gave at Carnegie Mellon University last year.  Professors are invited to give a lecture as if it was their “Last Lecture”.  In Randy’s case it literally was.  Randy is dying from pancreatic cancer and has only been given a few months to live.

The book is the lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon as well as some of the “life lessons” that Randy has learned in his short 47 years.  The title of his lecture was “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.”   The inside cover of the book reads “the lecture he gave wasn’t about dying.  It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment.”

It is a motivating and inspiring book with short little chapters that make it an easy and quick read but leave you with lots to think about!

The lecture that Randy gave was not for attention, for glory, for the people that attended - he did it for his young children, so they will know the man their father was, the father they would most likely not remember if it was not for “The Last Lecture”  What a gift he has not only given us but that he has left for his children.

You can listen to and watch the lecture by clicking here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

It lasts about an hour and 20 minutes and is worth the time.

I think my favorite part of the book was the second half where Randy shares some of his “life lessons learned.”

Some of my favorites were:
Don’t complain, Just work harder- “Complaining does not work as a strategy.  We all have finite time and energy.  Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals.  And it won’t make us happier”

Will someone please share this one with my fourteen year old!!

Watch what they do, not what they say – this life lesson is meant as future dating advice to his 18 month old daughter but I got on the phone and called my son Logan to share it with him.  I think it is good advice for boys too!

All you have to do is ask – I have found this life lesson to be so true.  So many times I have had people ask me ‘How did you do that or how did you get that?’  The answer is usually “I asked!”  As Randy says, “Ask those questions.  Just ask them.  More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, ‘Sure.’

Be the first penguin -this life lesson comes from the idea that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, somebody has got to be the first penguin in.  “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.  And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”

After reading Randy’s life lessons I decided that I needed to start a list of my own life lessons – Leigh Anne’s Life Lessons Learned.  I hope it’s a long time before I have to give my “Last Lecture” but I’ve got the list started!

So here are three of Leigh Anne’s Life Lessons Learned!

1.  Life is not fair.  Thanks to sweet Mr. Winston, my high school chemistry teacher, for teaching me this one.

2.  Everything is a choice.  We might not always be able to choose what happens to us but we can choose how we react to it.

3.  Kill them with Kindness.  The advice I give to my children anytime they are struggling to get along with someone (usually one of their siblings!)

So do you have a list of Life Lessons Learned?

I’d love it if you’d share one or two in the comment box below.  Remember if you are reading this through an email update or an rss reader you will have to click through to the actual blog to leave your comment.  Thanks – I look forward to hearing from you.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Tagged as: books, inspiration, Recommended Reads