It is not every day that I go to a bookstore and buy every available copy of a book. But chances are I have single handedly caused a surge in the sale of a little known book now available in the Philippines entitled: “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch.
To begin with I am not a bookworm. I am actually a below average book reader and I tend to read books motivated by a particular interest related to a particular hobby or concern.
If you looked at my bookshelves, they mirror my very few interests: Christian life, automotive and motoring, fish and plants, motivation and inspiration, and finally interiors and architecture.
Like many bored or busy travelers, I brought along the book in the hope of keeping me preoccupied or at least read part of a book that I asked my wife to order from the States. I can’t recall exactly how I learned about the book; all I remember was that a number of talk show hosts and pastors had mentioned it. The book sat on my shelf unread for what seemed like a year.
On the average it takes me months to finish a book. I rarely finish a book in one go. That rare occasion recently happened when I flew to Malaysia a month ago. Once I opened the book, there was no stopping.
If we were to play “association” I would tell you that the Last Lecture would be the movie equivalent of Love Story meets Paper Chase, segues to Walt Disney meets The Natural, transforms to Virgin Atlantic meets the Enterprise, Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) combines with Yoda, while Ghost sequels into Sunshine on my Shoulder.
The idea behind a “Last Lecture” is to invite a professor to give a talk based on the premise that it would be their last one, “To consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. In this case, the premise of dying becomes the reality for a very young professor, with a young wife and three children.”
Yes that’s a cosmic let down but if you manage to go on reading, you discover a person who makes choices to celebrate life. He doesn’t write his last will and testament, he writes about his will to live life and the testament he left for others.
Most parents get 20 to 30 years to teach and raise their children, but what if you only had six maybe eight months? What would you tell them? That in part is what Randy Pausch successfully achieves.
The first lesson that leaps out of the book is: “Don’t take your life for granted”. Because we are God’s creation, he put eternity in our hearts. Unfortunately we all tend to think like immortals until some disease, injury or failing health rudely interrupts our life.
The next lesson is that you can choose to lose it or juice it. However bad your situation is you always have a choice. You can die kicking and screaming or you can simply crumble to pieces in surrender.
I have often wondered how or why some people would choose to use up their precious little time in this world by writing a book or embarking on a quest or a crusade while waiting at the “pre-departure area. On two prior occasions, I dismissed the first guy as an Obsessive-compulsive type, while the second struck me as someone who simply wanted to pay back by being an endorser and encourager for cancer victims.
In reading “The Last Lecture” I realized that not all of us can be farmers or laborers. Some of us were destined to be “seeds” whose death becomes the necessary catalyst to bring about life around us or for others. Because of a terminal circumstance, the author is forced to make decisions and designs that would fit the void created by his demise.
He wants to leave a testimony for his children and ends up with a life- changing book for people willing to read, learn and live by.
Consider some of his lines:
Why write the book?: “An injured Lion still wants to Roar”
Why do the lecture?: “One thing I’ve learned is that when parents tell children things, it doesn’t hurt to get some external validation”
About the last lecture: “it had to be about LIVING”…What makes me unique…What do I, alone, truly have to offer?”… “I truly believed that I was a lucky man because I had lived out these dreams”…I felt my lecture might help others find a path to fulfilling their own dreams”.
About having cancer: “When there’s an elephant in the room introduce it”.
About knowledge: “If you have a question then find the answer”
A tip for speakers: “If you dispense your own wisdom, others often dismiss it; if you offer wisdom from a third party, it seems less arrogant and more acceptable.
Choices: “Never make a decision until you have to.
About love and children: “I also think my dad would be reminding me that Kids — more than anything else — need to know their parents love them. Their parents don’t have to be alive for that to happen.
Dreams: “It’s important to have a specific dream”
How to get what you want: “Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome”
Unfulfilled dreams: “I got more from pursuing that dream and NOT accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.
As for Presidentiables, The Last Lecture presents a chapter on why Captain James T. Kirk was qualified to be the Captain of the Starship Enterprise as they traveled from episode to episode of Star Trek.
The Chapter is entitled “A Skill Set called Leadership.
For that you’ll have to go out and buy the book at Fully Booked.
It leaves you with a very good sense of hope and validation that it’s OK to dream and that dreams can and do come true. If you can’t get a copy go to Amazon and if you don’t want that, go to You tube and search for “The Last Lecture”.
Read, Learn and Live it.