Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture Book

i have blogged countless number of times about a video that has been well dispersed in the online community by now. but i was buying some highlighter and sticky notes in national bookstore when i bumped upon a copy of randy pausch's last lecture. i didn't know he came up with a book. well, i actually, i could have downloaded an audio book from torrent but it didn't feel right. he left jai three kids to take care of. they'd need the royalties although i'm sure he left them a significant amount of money but still... they're all below 6 years old. anyway, i advise those who were moved by the lecture to buy one themselves. there are a lot more insights and advices in the book. Buy it and read it!

immortality... take it! it's yours!

when we lost in the finals of ecoknowmics, our professors comforted us and uplifted our spirits by telling us, "don't be disappointed. at least we made it to the finals." This is at least true for our Dean and I would like to think that the rest of the faculty shares the same insight. During our Industrial Organization class, Dr. De Vera told us that one way of accepting defeat is by asking ourselves, in 10 years, will this matter? what about 20? a hundred? (I'm not saying that it wouldn't matter if you won but think about it.)

so i was thinking of immortality or at the very least, the capacity to leave something behind that would outlive us. something that would well exceed our lifespan. A lot of people have left significant contributions in this world and they are always and will forever be remembered. so i was thinking, what could i do to leave something behind? something that will not be constrained in the memories of those that i love? when your funeral comes, people won't talk about your grades or earning capacity or anything. they will talk about the person that you are. problem is, sooner or later, those people will also die and with them, stories about you will fade.

thinking about death at age twen-teen (i refuse to admit i'm no longer a teenager) is a bit peculiar, i know... but there is something in me that wants to leave bread crumbs or ass prints of myself so that i would be present long after i'm gone. it's not necessarily about having my own statue or museum but some contribution to mother earth that would MATTER! something that will be of help... something that will be beneficial for others....

ok. so i was thinking about this when i decided to watch randy pausch's the last lecture. i actually watched bits and pieces of it cause i have to study for econometrics. i might watch the whole video over the weekend. either after the ecodev test on saturday or on sunday since i decided not to join the debate competition. randy pausch exemplifies exactly what i am talking about. i am almost sure he would outlive a lot of best-selling authors such as robert kiyosaki, stephenie meier and even j.k. rowling. this is not to be taken in the literal sense because the great randy paush died of pancreatice cancer months ago but he would mostly be remembered by a lot of people because of the nature of what he has done. he has inspired a lot of people to live their dreams and live their lives well.

i want to do something that will leave my footprint in this world... immortality through impact... is that too much to ask for?














apparently, you gotta earn it... =)