Wednesday, April 16, 2008

If you had 6 months...

to live, what would you do?

I know, that's not exactly something any of us wants to think about, just bear with me. There is a method to my madness and what I'm going to share in this blog may change the way you answer that question.

Just about a week ago, I settled down to watch TV before going to bed. I was not really sure what was on that particular night. As a matter in fact, I couldn't even tell what night it was.

I settled on Primetime on ABC. I like Diane Sawyer and I figured I could pseudo-watch as I worked on the crossword puzzle for that day. Little did I know...

That particular night, Diane was talking to Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon. If you didn't watch that show, you are probably wondering who he is and why am I blogging about his interview with Diane.

The story is simple. Randy is a computer science professor, 47 yr old, handsome, married, father of 3 kids, and has pancreatic cancer.

He gave a lecture based on a question about what he would do if he knew he was going to die and wanted to sum up everything that was important to him. The lecture was taped, later made it to the internet, millions saw it, and voila, he was famous.

I watched his interview with Diane and was immediately taken by this man. He is funny, and so positive, even though he knows his disease is winning. You can read the interview and watch a video here
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4614281&page=1 I should warn you, you may cry.

I cried watching this man enjoy every minute of his life, and then realizing how many times I've taken for granted the moments I've been given to be with those I love.


As I watched him talk about his kids and the things he wants his children to know about him once he is gone, I wondered, what would I want my kids to know about me, about my dreams, about the things I wanted to do before I left his earth? What bits of wisdom would I want them to carry with them thru life? How could I make sure I was with them in spirit through the difficult times ahead?

2 comments:

From the Doghouse said...

I haven't seen the entire thing, but I've seen clips. You really have to like his attitude, even if life isn't looking too swell right now.

I'm not really sure what I'd do.

Chicago_or_Bust said...

I saw the video a while back (sent to me by email), then saw him on an Oprah show Jana taped.

You are right. He is an amazing person and it gives one pause to consider their own past and future lives.

Enjoy your Blogs....

Clark