Like so many others I was saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Randy Pausch. Some months ago I watched the video shown below and was taken aback by Randy’s courage, humility, and passion for life. He was diagnosed with a very aggressive pancreatic cancer and told he had 3-6 months to live. That ended up being almost twelve months and he made good use of that time. He delivered the lecture below which has been viewed by millions, turned it into a bestselling book that provides funds for his family, and inspired a great many people with his manner and his message.

In facing death Randy focused on a life well lived. He talks about achieving his childhood dreams, of finding love in his wife, and in the good that comes in enabling the dreams of others. I watched the video for the first time late one night, mesmerized by Randy’s passion for life and his love of teaching. Life dealt the man a rough hand and he responded by embracing the time that remained and celebrating what he had accomplished. The man didn’t want to die any more than anyone else. He would have given anything to have been around to raise his three kids into adulthood, to continue his love affair with his wife, to continue his work in computer science.

Its not that Randy says things that most of us don’t know. We know it is important to follow your dreams. We know it is important to love your family. We know that how you interact with others and how you treat them is the true measure of a man or woman. We know that helping others achieve their dreams is a high calling. It is that Randy encapsulates these believes into a lecture with such conviction and that he does so with death hanging over his head. He isn’t complaining that life isn’t fair…it isn’t. He isn’t asking, “why me?”, even though none of us could blame him if he did.

If you haven’t seen Randy’s “last lecture”, watch it below.

I can’t help but think that as his kids grow up they will occasionally refer back to this video and view it as a treasure. Their dad isn’t here, but he left them a pretty damned good road map on how to live.

This lecture was followed by television and magazine interviews and Randy became something of a celebrity. A couple of months ago he gave the speech below at Carnegie Mellon’s graduation. It is much shorter and you can see a physical difference as the disease has begun to take its toll. Watch the whole thing. It is worth your time.

The humor is still there and so is the passion.

“You don’t beat the Grim Reaper by living longer. You beat him by living well. Its what you do from the time you are born to when he arrives that counts.”

Dr. Randy Pausch, a teacher to the very end. Thank you for the inspiration. Why is it that I see you pumping out one-handed push ups at the pearly gates?

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