Do you ever find yourself wondering where time goes? As I ponder this question, I find myself on my 22nd birthday, still without the answer. Many people fail to reflect on the years gone by until their birthday hits them in the face. We all fall prey to the anxiety that our birthdays bring and think of the new goals we hope to achieve within the ensuing year.
But once all the excitement dies down, we tend to forget our goals and they become just as insignificant as New Year's resolutions.
I constantly look back and wonder, when did all of this happen? When did we all grow up and lose sight of what we used to consider important? When did we cross the bridge from dependency to the fields of our own independence?
It has been a year since Professor Randy Pausch from Carnegie Mellon University delivered his inspirational speech The Last Lecture: Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams. Contributors to the series were asked to create a mock version of the final lecture they would deliver in their career. Professor Pausch devoted his speech to the concept of reflection. Looking back at his life as a whole, he focused on what he felt was most important, achieving those dreams he dreamt as a child.
For most of us, we have probably either forgotten or scratched off those ideas a long time ago, deeming them insignificant or outrageously unattainable - but this is where the beauty of his speech really comes into play.
When Professor Pausch was asked to be a part of the lecture series, doctors had diagnosed him with terminal pancreatic cancer, estimating that he only had three to six more months to live. So, this would in fact be his last lecture. Talk about perspective.
Wanting to refrain from discussing his illness and stating that "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game," Pausch began to speak about his own childhood dreams. He asked himself whether he had in fact achieved them, and through his reflection on his own youth, how he could help enable the dreams of others.
To even attempt to paraphrase his hour-and-20-minute long speech would be a disservice to you, the reader. Go watch it on YouTube or pick up the book.
What Professor Pausch does in his speech is force us to pause for a moment and think. Devoid of exterior influences, what do we really want out of life? How do we turn those dreams we were once so passionate about into a significant reality?
It is easy to be apathetic rather than face a problem. But if one wants to live not only fully but well, as Pausch states, one must face his or her past to move onto his or her future. Reflection is truly the key to progression.
So as I enter into yet another new year of my life, I am pleased to look back and see how far I have come, and how far I have yet to go. That each step I take, every decision I pursue, should be fueled by passion. Life does not care about the plans you have for yourself, it will throw you obstacles regardless. It is how you persevere that matters.
"Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things. Brick walls let us show our dedication."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
