i-Rave: The Good News
Today’s Cartoon: Putting the Constitution Back Together Again
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– READ THIS, LET IT REALLY SINK IN, THEN CHOOSE –
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was ther e telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!
You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’
He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can choose to be in a bad mood
I choose to be in a good mood.’
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.
‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You c hoose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line — It’s your choice how you live your life.’
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?’
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could c hoose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.’
‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?’ I asked
He continued, the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine, but when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.’
‘What did you do?’ I asked.
‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’.
Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything .
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
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A Good Look at Perspective
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, ‘How was the trip?’
‘It was great, Dad.’
‘Did you see how poor people live?’ the father asked.
‘Oh yeah,’ said the son.
‘So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?’ asked the father.
The son answered:
‘I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.’
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, ‘Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.’
Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
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Celebrate Life…
The Last Lecture goes beyond the now-famous lecture to inspire us all to live each day of our lives with purpose and joy
—Randy Pausch
A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomen
On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.
Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.
July 27, 2008
The Online Legacy of Professor Pausch
It was the power of the Internet that propelled computer science professor Randy Pausch to fame around the world after his inspiring last lecture and helped launch his bestselling book. So it seems a fitting tribute to document the many links, videos and other items that make up his online legacy.
A Google search of Dr. Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” generates more than 9 million links and counting. Here are some of the best.
“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”: Video of the original talk at Carnegie Mellon University that started it all.
“The Bridge”: A chapter from the book that was cut from the print edition but remains available online.
Best quotes: Wikiquote has compiled a list of the best quotes from Dr. Pausch.
“The Last Lecture” discussion guide: A guide to the book for parents, educators and book clubs.
“The Time Management Lecture”: Despite the hype about “The Last Lecture,” Dr. Pausch’s favorite lecture was this one.
The Alice Project: Educational software that teaches computer programming to children, and the project that Dr. Pausch viewed as his professional legacy.
Dr. Pausch’s update page: The blog and Web site where Dr. Pausch kept us informed about his health with humor and honesty, and shared milestones, fun moments and pictures of his family.
Medical summary: Information about his diagnosis and illness, written by Dr. Pausch in December 2007.
Carnegie Mellon graduation speech: A six-minute talk to the university’s class of 2008, an event described by Dr. Pausch as “the perfect day.’’
Congressional testimony: In a video of his moving testimony before Congress on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Dr. Pausch holds up a picture of his family, describing his children and introducing Jai as “my widow.’’ “We don’t have advocates for this disease,’’ he said, “because they don’t live long enough.’’
Time Magazine’s most influential: Time magazine named Dr. Pausch one of the world’s 100 most influential people in an essay written by CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
“It was fantastic beyond my wildest dreams,” Pausch said about practicing with the Steelers. (Danielle Hudak/The Pittsburgh Steelers)
Meeting the Pittsburgh Steelers: A video of Dr. Pausch meeting with the football team. The New York Times also reported on the day in “Dying of Cancer, but Full of Life Lessons.’’ To see great video of Dr. Pausch playing with the team, watch the 41-minute Diane Sawyer special below.
Answering questions: A five-minute Time magazine video features Dr. Pausch responding to 10 reader questions; he talked about the theme song to “Rocky” and why “Groundhog Day” remained one of his favorite movies.
Wall Street Journal coverage: A new tribute video from Dr. Pausch’s friend and co-author Jeffrey Zaslow, as well as several other articles by Mr. Zaslow, including the original report that cast an international spotlight on Dr. Pausch.
PanCan: A public service announcement Dr. Pausch made for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Oprah appearance: Dr. Pausch reprised his famous lecture in a 12-minute segment on the talk show.
The ABC special: A 41-minute Diane Sawyer segment on Dr. Pausch, featuring his wife Jai and people who say their lives were changed by “The Last Lecture.”
Media remembrances: Several news organizations have offered obituaries and tributes to Dr. Pausch. The New York Times called him “a Lou-Gehrig-like symbol of the beauty and briefness of life.’’ The Washington Post noted that when Dr. Pausch gave his lecture, there was nothing to suggest the speaker’s future celebrity. “There was just a bright, personable guy with a lot of energy, a terminal disease, and something he wanted to say.’’ The Los Angeles Times called him a “symbol for living and dying well.‘’ And Time magazine has a lovely essay called “Life Teacher.’’
In his own words: An audio clip of Dr. Pausch reading from the introduction to “The Last Lecture” and other book-related items can be found on “The Last Lecture” Web site.
Fundraising: Donations on Dr. Pausch’s behalf can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network or Carnegie Mellon’s Randy Pausch Honorary Fund.
And finally, add your thoughts to the hundreds of tributes left by readers of the Well blog.
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Good friends are like stars
One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road. Even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.
Despite the smile on his face, the lady was worried.. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.
He said, I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.’
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, ‘And think of me.’
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan .
After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door and was gone by the time the waitress came back The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: ‘You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.’
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.
Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard…
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her
She gave him a soft kiss and whispered, ‘Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.’
There is an old saying ‘What goes around comes around..’ Today I sent you this story, and I’m asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine.
Don’t delete it, don’t return it. Simply pass it on.
Good friends are like stars….You don’t always see them, but you always know they are there.
~GOD BLESS!~
