by peter@thewealthyattitude.com
Hello there all and welcome to the start of a brand new week.
I wrestle sometimes with how to get our week underway with The Wealthy Attitude Daily Reader. There is so very much I want to share with you that I often spend hours bouncing around my files to get the "right" piece for the program.
Today's offering needed none of that.
Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor, was about to give a lecture in September 2007, but before he said a word, he received a standing ovation from 400 students and colleagues.
He motioned to them to sit down. "Make me earn it," he said. They had come to see him give what was billed as his "last lecture." This is a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted "Last Lecture Series," in which top professors are asked tothink deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks.
For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?
It can be an intriguing hour, watching healthy professors consider their demise and ruminate over subjects dear to them. At the University of Northern Iowa, instructor Penny O'Connor recently titled her lecture "Get Over Yourself." At Cornell, Ellis Hanson, who teaches a course titled "Desire," spoke about sex and technology.
At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months.
What you are about to witness in the next 10 minutes is a modern hero creating a "legacy".
Let me know what it does for you.
Watch the video here!
For this week, give some thought to your legacy.
Take care,
~peter~
