DONT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Joe Appio passed this on to me, and it's something we all should watch, and think about.

Most people imagine that when they succumb to the inevitable and utter what must be their "last words", they will have time for little more than a brief, faltering sentence. If they are lucky, it will be shared with a few close family members before being just a memory.

Professor Randy Pausch is not most people, though. He is a happily married man with three very young children. He spent years working for Disney as an Imagineer who helped them develop some of their theme park attractions. He then went on to teach at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania where he still is to this day. In September, the previously unknown computer science expert delivered a remarkable lecture to students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

At the center of Pausch's remarkable tale is "The Last Lecture," whereby teachers are asked to imagine they're near death and must therefore sum up the entire collection of wisdom they wish to pass on to their students in a single lecture. Pausch, a 47-year-old father of three, didn't have to imagine anything when he gave his own "last lecture" on 18 September. He had just been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

In a little over an hour, to a packed lecture-hall, Pausch delivered a deeply moving speech on the subject of "really achieving your childhood dreams." The optimistic philosophy he provided is a timely reminder of how life ought to be lived.

Below is a condensed version he did on Oprah's..watch it, think about it, then go to you tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo) and watch the full 75 minute version. I don't think you'll be disappointed.