Failure is acceptable, often essential
Ainon M reflects on life's core calling
16 December 2011, 18:00 PM
The Last Lecture
Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
Hyperion, New York
This book reminds me of Kahlil Gibran's saying, "If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life."
On September 18, 2007, Randolph (Randy) Frederick Pausch gave his last lecture titled 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams' in front of an audience of four hundred plus students, faculty and visiting members at the Carnegie Mellon University. The lecture series, previously known as The Last Lecture, now renamed as Journeys, is an academic practice at the university where select faculties deliver a final prelection to students - on wisdoms they wish to impart to students prior to the faculty's supposedly impending death. Ironically, Randy, a computer science professor at the university, did not hypothesize about his death. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only a few months of living to do. Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008. He left behind a set of principles, captured in the book based on his lecture, which continues to make millions of people pause and reflect on matters that ground and define life. He did indeed open his heart to life.
Among the audience was Jeffrey Zaslow, a columnist with The Wall Street Journal, who paid heed to Randy's speech. He uploaded a five-minute video synopsis of Randy's lecture on the Journal's web-site. For Randy, it set the ball rolling for network coverage, interviews, a remarkable more than six-million hits on YouTube and more. And finally the book, The Last Lecture, that has been translated in more than 18 languages. Randy did not write the book in a conventional manner of penning down his thoughts. The book is a product of verbal reflections on his life experiences that he shared with Zaslow through his head cell phone while on bike rides, fifty-three in total. In his life, time for him was compressed and of essence. Zaslow became Randy's partner in recording and transforming his words into a book that has few pages but is grand in its impact reminding us that a credible life is defined by both high and low points.
The theme of the book is living life. It is marked by a stream of deliberations on the author's passion for work and a set of moral codes he practised, as well as gained, while in the process of achieving his goals. His life's account leads to inevitable questions: What makes us unique? Are we defined by the work we do? What do we leave behind for our progeny? If life is a set of interactions, i.e., relationships, which ones are the most significant? What governs those interactions? Randy blends it all together. He takes 'the dreams anchored in childhood' as the starting point of his narration. The validation of life comes through achieving childhood dreams and empowering others to achieve theirs.
His life anecdotes come alive for readers as these are expressions of his heart, the courageous emotions of one not defeated in the face of death. He reflects on lessons learned from parents while growing up; the discipline, the mores he absorbed; the values he upheld in relation to friends, colleagues, students and his family. He did not shy away from articulating the physical and emotional pains of dealing with cancer. He believed each challenge has a creative solution. His was to sort through time left, giving him a chance to reevaluate his priorities. His words carry the determination to live each day, living to its fullest.
He makes us aware that smooth sail in life is a misnomer. 'The brick wall we encounter,' says the author, 'is a reminder that failure is not just acceptable but is often essential. They're not there to keep us out.' The off-track disappointments are a measure of how intensely we wish to achieve something and a reminder to follow through irrespective of adversities. He gives us a story from his reality. While teaching the 'Building Virtual Worlds' course at Carnegie Melon he created a 'First Penguin Award' for students. It was given to the team who took the challenge of trying new ideas or new technology and failed. His reasonings? 'It was an award for glorious failure and it celebrated out-of-the-box thinking and using imagination in a daring way.' That is what gives us the in-roads to being unique, the slight edge!
At some point in our lives we all wish to take a measure of who we really are. What defines us? That self-formulation takes shape in the context of others - all help shape our core beings! We are not discrete beings and life is not a solo journey. In Randy's words, 'I learned as I grew older that you can't get anywhere without help. That means people have to want to help you, and that brings up the question: 'What kind of person do other people seem to want to help?' What is the interconnection between I and others? What are the social values that define our beings, if you will? The quintessential answer, according to him, is simple: tell the truth; be earnest; apologize when you make a mistake; and focus on others. He adds, 'Find the best in everybody. You might have to wait for a long time, but people will show you their good side!' The elegant expressions of "never lose childlike wonder…show gratitude…never give up" are simple words of action, universal in approach to anything we wish to start.
"Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less time than you think." For me, these words hit home in earnest. The essence of these words is beautifully interwoven in an instance where Randy ponders on the surprise he gave his wife, in front of a fully enthralled audience, by bringing a birthday cake on the stage where he gave his last lecture. She held him tight and through tears whispered, "Please, don't die." The words define the common denomination in the souls of two people, the warmth and bindings of love. Such captured moments make the book grounded in life's engagements. Indeed, how many days and nights do we allow to slip away in procrastination, dreaming of the ideal job, the ideal project or what we should have said to our dear ones, moments lost without expressing how much we love our children, family, friends, how much we care? All lost in the busy events of life. The Last Lecture is not a self-help book but a book that inspires us to think the world is given to us only once and in that we can create choices which make us unique. The words are musings of the heart that knew for sure it would beat for only so many numbered days and no more. What makes it an enchanting read is the fact that the book is a gift wrapped in the legacy of one man's love, his successes and challenges, and a set of precepts that he wanted to leave behind for his three young children. (This review is a reprint).
Ainon M writes fiction, composes poetry and lives in Carbondale, Illinois, USA.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments