The Last Lecture: A Book Review

Valentines Day 2009: (Sorry babe, this will be slightly incriminating.) I operated under my friend Robin's Theory this year for Valentine's and I told Marc exactly what I wanted: to go to a movie in the theater. That's it. As he thought things through, he thought that might be hard to pull off this last weekend but promised me he would acknowledge the holiday. On Valentine's Eve, I told him that if we weren't going to a movie, I'd really like a second pair of mary jane sweater slippers, or a cute pair of pj pants, something small. On Saturday, after he'd worked a while at a hockey tournament, after we'd taken the kids to see Madagascar 2, and after I'd gotten impatient that Marc had jumped on the computer the second we walked in the door, he pulled out my Valentine's surprise: a very fun card and a package of Spring Oreos. Thoughtful yes, but if you read Robin's post about her Valentine's Theory, you will forgive me for being a bit disappointed. I had been VERY CLEAR about what I wanted and none of my ideas were honored. While my husband is "practically perfect" , it's possible he's a little slow to pick up on completely obvious hints. So he went to Target and picked up a pair of slippers, some pj pants, a book (The Last Lecture, which is where we're going with this) AND a gallon of milk because we were low and Oreos without milk is unthinkable. When I asked him about the number of purchases he made, he told me I should know by now that when he screws up, he usually goes overboard. On Monday I read The Last Lecture in it's entirety, and I didn't start until 1:45 pm.

The Last Lecture (by Randy Pausch, the 47 year old husband, father and computer scientist who died after a 2 year battle with pancreatic cancer) is a must read. It is fun and humorous yet incredibly deep and inspirational. I had an overwhelming urge to sit and cry for an hour or so after finishing.

Here are some gems I thought might be important enough to write on post-its to place all over the house.

• When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.

• There's really only one way to teach kids how to develop [self-esteem]: You give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.

• Tenacity is a virtue, but it's not always crucial for everyone to observe how hard you work at something.

• Power is in humility.

• Be a better time manager: time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think.

• The only way any of us can improve is if we develop a real ability to asses ourselves. If we can't accurately do that how can we tell if we're getting better or worse.

• Luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity.

• Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while [being] hip is trying to impress you with the surface.

• Complaining does not work as a strategy.

• When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time.

• It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit. . .and keep moving forward.

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

These are words that might keep me moving forward when things don't seem to be going right. I suggest you pick up the book and see how it speaks to you.