celebrating life
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 12:13 pm. 0 comments
Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor from Carnegie Mellon, spent the last many months of his life in pure happiness after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I just spent the last hour watching his last lecture at the Carnegie where he started off saying how he didn’t want crying or pity from anyone - he just wanted to tell how he has spent his years as a computer science professor teaching kids through fun. He talked about his childhood dreams and how over the years he has accomplished them, maybe not exactly, but in a certain way. I believe that people like Randy lead very inspirational lives. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be diagnosed with a disease and only having X amount of time to live. I do hope however, if that ever is something I face in life, I can have the courage to be as happy as he was at the most devastating time.
This past March, a very good friend of mine lost his life in an automobile accident. Sure, I think about and miss him every day and still cry, but I have learned to celebrate his life and be happy for all the wonderful times we had together rather than always being depressed about it. When I looked back, I realized that he was always full of life and rarely ever angry. He was always looking to make the best of everything no matter what the situation was and was so easy going. I was always so very afraid of death and could never even really talk about it. Even now it still bothers me, but as my friend lived and Dr. Pausch preached, I will continue to try to live my life with less anger and a whole lot more happiness. After all, you only get one shot at it.