Upon purchasing Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture from the local bookstore, I was looking for some inspirational words of wisdom but wasn’t totally sure what to expect. After all, Pausch has incurable pancreatic cancer and was only given a few months to live by his doctor. Would he share memorable life lessons for readers to apply to their own lives? Would this be an opportunity for him to bash the medical community for not being able to help him live to see his children grow up and graduate from high school? Would it be a showcase to reveal a deep-seated faith in God to millions of people at once?
In short, yes, no, and no.
Pausch offers the reader a quirky, optimistic, and practical guide to achieving those dreams of childhood that often elude us upon our entrance into the adult world. He begins by sharing what led up to the lecture—notably a failed treatment that left him looking at the finish line of life, coupled with his wife Jai trying to convince him to not give the talk and focus on family instead. But he was determined to give it because “an injured lion wants to know if he can still roar. It’s about dignity and self-esteem . . .” (p. 8). It was going to be a lecture about living instead of dying.
From there, Pausch takes the reader on a nostalgic look at his childhood, reflecting on the dreams he had in childhood and how they were fulfilled later in life, such as being in zero gravity and authoring an entry in the World Book encyclopedia (in this case, “virtual reality”). Along the way, he offers advice on how to not give up in situations, to see things from other perspectives, and maintain an optimism that trumps the negativity and pessimism prevalent in today’s society.
As a professor of Computer Science who specializes in human computer interaction, one might expect Pausch to be a little strange and somewhat unpredictable. After all, what person takes a soft drink and pours it all over the cloth seats of his new convertible—just to show that people are more important than things (p. 69-70)? Or sometimes carries a crayon in his pocket so he can, with a whiff of it, be transported into childhood again (p. 164-165)? Nevertheless, it still makes sense.
Although the lecture was intended for his two children, who are young enough that they won’t remember much about their father when he dies, the relevance for the reader is quite significant. I was particularly reminded of this as Pausch discussed brick walls in our lives. When we come to a challenging situation, we have the choice to back away from it or go charging headlong into it with the intent of succeeding. As he notes, “The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people” (p. 73). In fact, sometimes it takes other people to give us a boost over those walls. So how much do we want what’s on the other side?
One brick wall we all face in our lives wasn’t mentioned too much in the book—the brick wall of faith. Pausch didn’t discuss his faith in the lecture because “I wanted to talk about universal principles that apply to all faiths—to share things I had learned through my relationships with people” (p. 186). But relationships will come and go. Lessons will be learned—and eventually forgotten. Memories may be frozen in scrapbooks, videos, or DVDs—yet there’s no guarantee future generations will take a look at them. But faith in God is something that has to be discussed when someone’s been given a timetable on how long they will live, because overcoming that brick wall is the only way to enter heaven. The best thing is that the brick wall is only as high as we allow it to be. If we don’t believe that Jesus died for our mistakes and faults, came to life again, and desires us to be with him, that wall can be thousands of feet high. But for the one who’s ready to take that step of faith, the wall may only be one brick tall. The most important thing is that we get over it in whatever way necessary.
Pausch’s book caused me to think about what my “words of wisdom” would be if I had to give a lecture similar to his. I think it would include the following points:
· Whatever you do, do your best at it. – Too many times we look at a task, internally analyze its difficulty, then decide to either give up or not give our best effort.
· Laugh at least ten times each day. – Otherwise, something’s wrong with you.
· Get out and exercise often. – This one doesn’t need any further elaboration.
· Live life as it happens. – I like to think the theme song from Indiana Jones is constantly playing underneath my life, but it’s not the case. Neither is a laugh track or a bunch of people applauding. So I have to enjoy and experience all God has planned as it happens.
· Go slow(er). – There’s a reason why I don’t have text messaging on my cell phone, and this is one of those reasons. I already move too fast as is!
· Make God known to others, but not in an annoying, ham-handed manner. – Faith is critical, but there are ways to share Jesus’ love effectively without putting black eyes on Christianity as a whole.
· Be an example to all you come in contact with. – The way we live out our lives should provide people both inspiration and a desire to imitate, not make fun of (or worse yet, find out about on the six o’clock news).
Although I wish faith played more of a role in The Last Lecture, Pausch’s book is something that should be read and applied. The words of wisdom we pass on to our families, friends, and colleagues as a result will be worth it.
