[sharing] Touched By An Angel - Randy Pausch

Subjec t: Touched By an Angel - Randy Pausch Dies - 12 Heavenly Lessons Learned

Dear all, These 12 lessons offered by Randy who died of cancer at the age of 47 seem worth pondering:1. "No dying man wishes he'd spent more time at the office." 2. While you're out trying to win the respect and admiration of the outside world who usually won't give it to you, don't make those who really do care about you feel like their love and respect isn't worth anything. 3. Don't let your emotional shyness cause you to wait until it's too late to say: "I'm sorry," "Thank you," "I love you" and "I'll miss you." 4. Wealth is what you take from the world; worth is what you give back a.k.a. In the end, it's not what you have that matters, it's what you leave behind. 5. Smart is about knowing what will make you money; Wisdom is about knowing what's important. 6. Love means ALWAYS having to say (and show) you're sorry. It also means loving people not only for what they do right, but in spite of what they do wrong (because it's those latter times when they really need love and understanding and not criticism). 7. You can't make anyone love you, you can only be loving and hope that makes you more lovable. 8. Don't try to change people; accept them as they are and hope they change instead of not accepting them at all until they change. 9. When everybody admires and respects or is impressed by you or even adores you and nobody knows you, you can die of loneliness (that's what killed Marilyn Monroe). 10. Always say, "Gee, am I glad to see you," when you come home from work, so the people closest to you know they matter to you. 11. Always say, "Goodbye, I love you," when you leave your family for work, because you never know when you're going to get hit by a truck. 12. You can focus on what you're disappointed about and be a bitter person or on what you're grateful for and be a better person. The choice is up to you. Randolph Frederick Pausch[1] (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a best-selling author who achieved worldwide fame for his "The Last Lecture" speech on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon. In August 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He pursued a very aggressive cancer treatment that included Whipple procedure[2] surgery and experimental chemotherapy; however, in August 2007 he was told the cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen, which meant it was terminal. He then started palliative chemotherapy, intended to extend his life as long as possible. At that time, doctors estimated he would remain healthy for another three to six months. On May 2, 2008, a PET scan showed that his cancer had spread to his lungs and some lymph nodes in his chest, and that he had some metastases in his peritoneum and retroperitoneum. More information about Professor Pausch is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch