This morning I was thinking of two people: Randy Pausch, and a girl named Joy.
Shortly after he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, the late Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor, was chosen to give the last lecture, a tradition at CMU. There are over twelve million people who have viewed his lecture on YouTube. In this lecture he shares with his audience all his childhood dreams that came true, how he wants to enable the childhood dreams of others, and some lessons he learned in making his dreams come to reality. After recently watching his lecture again, this resonated with me: “The brick walls are there for a reason: … they give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
Randy did not stop at the lecture, from there he co-wrote with Jeffrey Zaslow and published the book ‘The Last Lecture’. In an interview Randy mentions that this book is the safety net he is leaving for his family. An article at Wired.com says the authors reportedly received from Hyperion, an advance of $7 million. How awesome is that? Not only did he build a safety net for his family, he touched many lives, that of numerous people he had never met. This guy, in an unfortunate and life-ending difficulty, turned his circumstance around and created a lasting legacy for all. How could a dying person who is in physical pain even accomplish this task in two years?
Now let me tell you about a lady named Joy. I don’t even remember her last name. Joy died a violent death. When I met her, she was 28 years old and had her own dental practice. She was recommended to me by her sister-in-law who was my life insurance client (I was an ING Life insurance agent in the Philippines for a brief period). Apparently Joy was shopping for a life insurance policy. She was the only prospective client who sought me, because most of the time it was the other way around. I went to her dental office and told her what whole life, endowment, and term policies were. I explained everything, but did not close the sale. I moved on, and a few months later I paid her sister-in-law a visit. It was then that she broke the news to me, that Joy was attacked and killed in her dental office, a month or so after my visit. I could not believe my ears when she and her husband (Joy’s brother) described the scene – (sorry i have to describe it) – blood everywhere, on the walls, all over the floor, etc. They shared many details with me I did not know how to react because I was in total shock. A spurned admirer had done it. He had been stalking her and that was what prompted her to buy life insurance. After her death Joy’s nieces and nephews would talk about seeing her coming into the room to play with them, and then having to leave because she knew who did it and she was going to do something about it. As for life insurance, yes she purchased a million-peso policy from Sun Life, with her mother as the beneficiary.
I know that Joy’s story is so horrific. I am glad I helped and gave her all the information she needed. I am glad i convinced her and helped her decide what to do, and she did it. She left the insurance proceeds as a gift to her mother. I know that money will not take away the pain of losing a child, especially that way, but Joy’s thoughtfulness for her mom was big, wasn’t it?
Randy Pausch could have stopped at the lecture at CMU, but that video went viral and it created the opportunity to make his dreams for his family to come true. He provided for them even in death. Joy was only 28 – and she thought of her mother.
What do you want? What do you want to leave behind? How are you going to do it? These are the questions I’ve been asking myself too. How can i possibly make the most of myself so that I can leave a lasting legacy for my little boy?
In ‘The Science of Getting Rich’ Wallace D. Wattles says: “The greatest service you can render God and humanity is to make the most of yourself.” It does not matter what environment you’re in, what economy, or what state of life you are living right now – what matters is what you do about yourself. And, you can even do better. Zig Ziglar puts it this way: Find a way to serve the many, for service to many leads to greatness.
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!
