The Incredible Randy Pausch

A few months ago I came across this incredible video in YouTube about a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer who was delivering his "Last Lecture." This is the first paragraph from Caring4Cancer:

In September 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch, 46, stepped before an audience at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver his “Last Lecture,” an exercise that challenges professors to give the final talk of their lives. In his case, the challenge was real. Randy has advanced pancreatic cancer. His talk on “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” offered a unique combination of autobiography, life lessons, humor, and zest for living—and yet his real audience, Randy noted in closing, was his three small children, ages 5, 2, and 1.

And here is the link to their article: Randy Pausch: An Incredible Outlook - Caring4Cancer

There is also a link on that page to Professor Pausch's video — it is the best 1+ hours of Internet time you will spend in your life.

I have several heroes in my life; amongst them is my wife, who I witnessed honorably fight breast cancer with a fortitude belonging to a goddess; John Brown, who fought lung cancer with the most positive attitude I could ever hope to witness in a human being; and Professor Randy Pausch who continues to beat the odds with the type of determination commensurate with this man's genius. Here is a page with his latest update.

Going back to the Caring4Cancer article, Professor's Pausch's Key Steps to Living Well are worthy of consideration by all:

1. Choose to enjoy every day and have fun with family and friends.
2. Keep a sense of humor.
3. Assign a time and a place to crying in order to release emotions.
4. Make time for activities that give you pleasure.
5. Carve out quality time with your spouse or partner.
6. Lead a healthy lifestyle—sleep, exercise, nutrition—to keep your spirits up.
7. Accept help, tell people what you need, and appoint a communications “gatekeeper.”
8. Take advantage of professional counseling.

I hope we can all learn from Professor Pausch and many others how to live everyday to it's fullest.