Brick walls are there for a reason...

OK, by now you have probably heard the above title if you are clued in. If you haven't, it is coined by Randy Pausch a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Yeah, pancreatic cancer has been a real killer prior to Patrick Swayze going public with his diagnosis.

So what is the reason for brick walls being there? Well according to Prof. Randy Pausch they are there to let us prove how badly we want what is on the other side. Prof. Pausch gave his "Last Public Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University on 9/18/07. The lecture appropiately titled, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" is definitely special. The one hour and forty-five minute video has since been posted to the internet where it has taken on a life of its own. It has gotten so big that Prof. Pausch has been featured on Oprah. I had heard about it some time ago but never put the effort in to watch the video thinking I had better things to do with the 1 hour and 45 minutes of my time. Well guess what? It was time well spent. Great enough such that I'm recommending it to YOU (see #3 below).

In any case, every so often someone adds to the manuscript of life's lessons and we should all seize the opportunity to get updated. Thank you Randy Pausch. Here are some quick hits I took from the original full length video:
1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
3. When you're screwing up and nobody is saying anything to you anymore that means they gave up.

Abbreviated version of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture on Oprah:


Original & full Last Lecture by Prof. Pausch.