1 post tagged “news”

Dr. Randy Pausch, diagnosed with terminal cancer, delivered a last lecture on life lessons that has been viewed online over a million times.  What would be in your life lessons lecture?

1. People are more important than anything.  Take care of your relationships with people.
2. Not all people are worth cultivating relationships with...   if a person hurts you (persistently, repeatedly and/or with intent) then that person doesn't need to be part of your life.  You deserve to be with kind people!  Spend your energies with people who bring you up and make you feel whole.
3. Family comes first.  My job may be interesting or important, but my family is more so.  There will be times that the tasks at hand for your job are more urgent or need priority, but family should be the driving force behind your decisions.  [Children do need to learn that sometimes other people have to come first - but don't make them feel that other people ALWAYS come first!]
   
4. Plan and save for the future, but LIVE in the here and now.  Some opportunities may never come again.  Take the afternoon off when you have a stunning autumn afternoon and go for a walk.  Use some of your savings to invest in making memories on a family vacation (even a trip to a concert or museum or park!).  Notice the interesting things your children are involved in today rather than pushing them to be ready for a future career.  The career will happen, today's joys are gone so fast.
5. Time flies.  Stop sometimes and just notice what you have, and be grateful.
6. Be grateful.  Be thankful for the times you have to spend with people you love.  Enjoy the times you have to do the things you love (for me, art, garden, reading...).  Appreciate the kind things others do for you.
7. Don't wait to take care of your health.  Maintaining a good quality of life into the future depends on staying healthy now.  A simple annual check-up could catch things early -- before they become life threatening or disabling.
8. Smile.  Laugh.  Love.  Play.  Be.

Follow your bliss, as Joseph Campbell would say...