Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Last Lecture

Those of you who know me, know that it was end of life issues that brought me originally into the field of bioethics. Dealing with death and dying is not something I did willingly. So when a friend sent me this link to The Last Lecture, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it. But this man, Randy Pausch, deals with his mortality in a such beautiful, positive way and helps give meaning to all of our lives, I felt compelled to share it with our readers:





The 10 minute reprise on Oprah can be found at this link, where Randy reminds us of the importance of such things as keeping your sense of fun and wonder, working and playing well with others, and showing gratitude.

I am reminded of Don Juan’s counsel in one of Carlos Castaneda’s books: that death is our constant companion, that it travels on our left shoulder, and that our task must be to make it our 'ally.' I would say that Randy Pausch has done an admirable job of doing just that.

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