Life and death are the two biggest issues of life.

 

Life and death are the two biggest issues of life. However, few people would like to discuss them frankly.

At Carnegie Mellon University, however, students are encouraged to think about death. In the university’s “Last Lecture Series,” top scholars were invited to give a hypothetical “final talk” about what matters to them the most when their life comes to an end. While listening to the lectures, we involuntarily also think about how the questions apply to our own lives: What do we cherish the most? How should we lead our life?

In 2007, CMU invited a special guest to return to their alma mater and give a lecture on this topic. That speaker was Randy Pausch, the author of this book. By that time, he had already been given a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and had just a few months to live. So, to Pausch, it was literally a “last lecture.”

It was Pausch’s family, friends and former colleagues that encouraged him to give this speech, and he saw the occasion as a farewell ceremony. He also hoped that his three young kids could access what he wanted to share with them through the video of this lecture once they grew up. Pausch titled this lecture “Really achieving your childhood dreams.” He even did several push-ups on stage as a warm-up to show the audience that he was vital enough to give the lecture.

In this speech, he had no intention of talking about his disease or how he struggled with it. He chose to talk about his dreams and about everything he cherished. Even if his life was about to come to an end, he lived it with passion and enthusiasm. In his lecture, Pausch didn’t intend to instruct us on how to fulfill our dreams. Instead, he wanted to inspire us to think about how we can follow our dreams and achieve a unique and valuable life. Pausch’s speech was full of humor, even making the audience laugh from time to time, but he also moved them to tears. The online video of this lecture was downloaded over ten million times. Thousands of people wrote to Pausch, sharing with him about their own dreams.