Week 1: Creating a Life of Meaning

One of my favorite gifts to give people is a book based off the lecture given by Randy Pausch about achieving childhood dreams that he gave for his children as he was dying. We read that lecture this week and I was reminded why I loved Randy. He was a man with a zest for life. He had an energy that drove him. He was willing to try and learn just for the experience. And most importantly he was genuine. Randy was a what you see is what you get kind of guy. I love those kinds of people. And those who just have fun in life despite what comes at them.

In Randy’s book he mentions a story that isn’t in his lecture, but is a great metaphor for living. He talks about how he married later in life and before he met his wife and they had children he made sure to take care of his sister’s children and have fun with them. Randy bought a new car and went to take his niece and nephew out for a day at the fair. The kids were nervous to get in and didn’t want to hurt the car. Randy cracked open a soda and poured it in the car. He said he didn’t want the kids afraid of messing it up if they got sick after a full day of junk food and carnival rides. He goes on to say that people mean more than things and he wanted to make sure his niece an nephew knew they meant more to him than a car, even a brand new one.

In one of the videos this week I loved the advice to treat life as an experiment. What the speaker was saying was be willing to try and see what happens rather than being afraid  to try or thinking you’ll fail.  We set our own limits, and when we see life as an experiment we’re more willing to see what happens next and take risks instead of sitting on the sidelines unsure what we can do

I learned this week that James Dyson, the man known for the expensive but awesome vacuums failed many times before succeeding. He failed 5,128 times before he succeeded. It seems like a lot to keep track of, but imagine how he felt when he stopped counting and was able to say he’d met his goal.