The Last Lecture

If you could do one thing and know you would't fail, what would it be?

What do you desire out of life?

Have you fulfilled your dreams? Your childhood dreams?

I write a lot about goals. It's what keeps me going, espescially in a business sense. I don't work just for me, but for my family. I work for my clients.

There is nothing more rewarding than to create an emotional bond of impact through photographs for my clients. I know I am creating a treasure that they will treasure for years.

I'm sure you've seen on TV the snippets of Randy Paush delivering "The Last Lecture". You may or may not know this was truly, this last lecture. Delivered at Carnagie Mellon University in September of '07, he left the world just days ago due to cancer.

I am not going to say much about the lecture. I urge each of you to go view the lecture. http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

If you know you're not going to be around for long, would you continue in life? Or would you give up hope? Why do so many of us find ourselves giving up before we know our days are up? We continue on with the presumption that there will always be another day. Randy talks about bricks walls. To ad-lib his comments; brick walls are there for people that don't want to get there.

We use these walls as an excuse. But, what better excuse is there that your life is ending? Seems as though that would prevent many of us from continuing on. We would give up hope. Why is it so many don't even try and give up hope well before this day comes?

Truly, we have no promises of tomorrow. No promises of the next five minutes. That can't be an excuse though. So, what is stopping us?

Many people talk a big game, yet they don't want to do the work to get there.

You don't know if you'll fail. Many things in life we will fail out. True masters turn failures into education and opportunity. Don't give up on your dreams. Celebrate fulfillment.

Take a moment and think of those dreams in your life that have been fulfilled.

- Did you get what you wanted for Christmas one year as a child?
- Marry your highschool sweetheart?
- Have children?
- Obtain a promotion?
- Win a trophy?

Celebrate those accomplishments.

Take what you've learned from your failures and teach others into making their dreams come true.

It was inspiring to see this video. For me, on a personal level it reiterates more and more why I love what I personally do. Create memories. No, we aren't promised tomorrow. To know that I can create a beautiful piece of art for a client that will be around well after a loved one has gone on is beyond rewarding. To know my art will be looked at and cherished for years after is beyond fulfilling. As the video clearly illustrates, we are not promised tomorrow.

Don't give up living. Live life. Regardless of how many days you have left, keep living. Live your life, fulfill your dreams, help others fulfill their own. This man doesn't allow death to stop him. Infact, that's the ONLY thing that will stop him. He keeps going until that day. Full force. Amazing.

There is a book about the last lecture as well which I plan to read.

In a world of goals and dreams where it is so easy to give up hope Randy inspires us to press forward regardless of the cards we're dealt...play the hand.