Living Out Childhood Dreams

This blog is about 'spending' one's time in the way that maximizes it, in a way that is meaningful and focuses on thinking through and deciding what are the things you really want to do in your lifetime. I recently read an interesting book on just that topic, written by someone who had not 750,000 hours, but just over half that - Randy Pausch, author of the book The Last Lecture. It is the story of his life, his learnings and his struggle with pancreatic cancer.

The book doesn't focus on the cancer although it does discuss values and priorities which emerge when dealing with cancer. It deals more with the things Randy got out of his time here and what he learned along the way. And it embellishes upon his last lecture, given at Carnegie Mellon University called 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams'.

In thinking about what to write for this lecture, he asked, "What do I, alone, truly have to offer?" And his answer, "Whatever my accomplishments, all of the things I loved were rooted in the dreams and goals I had as a child...and in the ways I had managed to fulfill almost all of them. My uniqueness, I realized, came in the specifics of all the dreams - from incredibly meaningful to decidedly quirky..." He lived out his dreams and used his last lecture to help others to find a way to live out theirs.

From being in zero gravity to being Captain Kirk to play in the NFL and at Disney, he lived out his dreams. He had a 'book of life' of experiences and things that he learned along the way that was worth reading, both for himself and for those who cared about him.

For inspiration and a look at a life well lived, The Last Lecture is definitely worth a read.