Written by: Tom Sawyer

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor, died Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47. He died at his home in southern Virginia.

You may have saw this on the news or Internet. You also may have went to Youtube and discovered a video he made. Or, you may be asking yourself why this matters to you. Pausch gained Internet fame for his “Last Lecture”, a lecture given by many professors as if it was their last lecture. For Pausch, it may not have literally been his last lecture, but it was close. His last lecture was inspirational, motivational and sad at the same time. If you have the time, watch the video below.

Pausch told USA TODAY during an interview at his home in March that the now-famous lecture was never meant for public consumption, nor was it for his colleagues or students. It was for his two sons and daughter: Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 2. “If people are finding inspiration, OK, but the book is for my kids,” Pausch said.

“I knew what I was doing that day,” he wrote in the introduction of his best-selling book, also titled The Last Lecture. “Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children.”

In the video, Pausch says the following:

“…the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something, because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the “other” people.”

How many of us don’t try hard enough? Really, if we were honest with ourselves and admitted the truth, would we be one of those few people who actually do what it takes to break down those brick walls? I know there is more I can do, more positive things in life I could take action on instead of looking at things like I don’t want to go through the hassle. Have you found your true contribution or art?

In some way, we are all artists. We all have something we do that contributes to the world around us; that something you would do all day for free that you or someone else really needs. We all know people who happen to find their art easier than others. Tiger Woods’ art is golf, Bill Gates’ art is software (sort of) and your mechanic’s art may be working on cars. Think about what it is that is your art and begin to break down those brick walls.

Come back tomorrow, for more positve actions that can change your life.

Tags: Breakthrough, Creativity, Life

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