Randy Pausch's Last Lecture-What We Can Learn

You cannot change the cards you are dealt. Just how you play the hand.

If you haven't already seen Randy Pausch's famous "Last Lecture" given to a class of students at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, make it a priority. Knowing he would soon meet his untimely death at the hands of pancreatic cancer, the speech became a YouTube sensation, and is still one of the most motivating speeches I have ever heard. His simplistic instructions for how to tackle life interspersed with personal stories and photographs make you feel like nothing is impossible, but most of all, grateful for each and every moment of life you're given. He teaches us not to give up, not to feel sorry for ourselves, to persevere, to let children be children, and for us to embrace the child within ourselves. His philosophy of how to live life, how to approach challenges, how to accept change, and how to face life with a "can do" attitude should inspire each of us to live better lives, teach our children to live their best lives, love and respect each other, and see each new day as a gift. Although the lessons learned from the speech made it seem like he was giving away free advice to anyone who would listen, the real genius of the message was that it wasn't really for the general population, but for his kids. You may need tissues like I did.

These are a few of my favorite quotes from the speech:

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Don't complain. Just work harder.