The Road Back

Students this week have been reflecting on Dr. Pausch’s Last Lecture and this was one of my responses to a student’s reflection:

Thanks so much for sharing your reflections on the book and the video this week. Alas, if we live long enough to notice that (A) we’re getting older and, (B) we’re still here, then, hopefully, we learn things that we can share with others. The difficult part is recognizing that it’s often not the message we have to share that isn’t heard, it’s that they’re not ready to hear it. Before I got sick I was busy 24/7 just doing the thing, doing everything that I could, but I was unaware of the journey and it took two-years of my life, coming back to just recognize the road. Living deliberately comes from that time on my back, asleep and living only in my head, if one gets a chance to come back, like I did, then that’s the gift: to see both the journey and the destination and enjoy both.