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Share Your Legacy: Prepare Your Own Last Lecture. Prepared and Presented by: Jim Messina, Ph.D. What is the Last Lecture.
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Share Your Legacy: Prepare Your Own Last Lecture Prepared and Presented by: Jim Messina, Ph.D.
What is the Last Lecture • Randy Pausch is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University where on September 18, 2007 he presented his Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams for his three children Dylan, Logan, Chloe and wife Jai • There is now a published book: The Last Lecture published by Hyperion Press by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow • Randy prepared a Second Last Lecture: Time Management, which he presented at University of Virginia on November 2, 2007
What can we learn from The Last Lecture? • The importance of sharing with your family how you got to where you are today in life • The lessons you want to share with your family members which hopefully will help them on their own journey in life • Leaving a Legacy for your family to draw upon for the rest of their lives even after you are gone
The Last Lecture Can Teach: • How you can overcome obstacles in life • How to make your dreams and the dreams of others come true • How to seize the opportunity and use every moment you have in life to the fullest • How to live out your beliefs in life • How to live your life to the fullest
Why do a Last Lecture? The Last Lecture can: • Communicate messages of love, forgiveness and gratitude to your family • Provide a connection for the younger generation to the older generation as well as the long gone generations • Provide a comfort to family members that you have no regrets over how your life has been lived
What if You do not Prepare Your Last Lecture? • The message in a Last Lecture is “meaningful” for family members and if there is no message left family members will struggle to preserve their memories of you in other ways – sometimes not exactly the way you would wish or hope they would do
The Last Lecture can Provide Guidance: Through the Last Lecture you can provide your family with guidance on: • How to manage the transitions in life they will face • How to make life time commitments in relationships, careers and community life • How to avoid the mistakes you have made along the way
What can be included in Your Last Lecture? • The history of your family going back to your grandparents • Cherished memories and stories • Your personal history • Values and beliefs which directed your life • Lessons you learned along the way • Regrets for past decisions and/or actions • Who and what you now forgive for real or imagined hurts • Hope for the future for your family • Blessings and messages of Love
What else should be included in a Last Lecture? • Pictures of you and your family over the years • Videos or home movies • Art work with meaning for you, if you dare do some art work to be included • Music which touched you over the years
So What Do You Think? What objections do you having to doing your own Last Lecture? • This is like saying: “I know I am going to die so I better get what I need to say as soon as possible to my loved ones.” • It scares me to prepare: “My final message” • “This is so Egotistical! As if I have so much to say that others would want to hear it!”
References -1: Randy Pausch Related sites: • Randy Pausch’s Website: http://www.randypausch.com • Randy’s Last Lecture video: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184&hl=en • Randy’s Time Management Lecture: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758&q=Time+Management&ei=D9QUSNvVB4qUrgKvkNzyBA&hl=en • Randy’s Interview with Diane Sawyer: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=265263428002185148 • The Last Lecture Website: http://www.thelastlecture.com
References -2 • Alvarez, L. (2005) Farewell with Love and Instructions. New York Times: Oct. 6, 2005 • Baines, B. K. (2006) Ethical Wills-Second Edition. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press • Baines, B. K. (2001) The Ethical Will Writing Guide Workbook. Cambridge, MA: Josaba Ltd. • Elgin, D & Ledrew, C.(2001) Living Legacies: How to Write, Illustrate, and Share Your Life Stories. Berkley, CA: Conari Press Books
References - 3 • Pausch, R. & Zaslow, J. (2008). The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion • Scott, B. (2006) Leaving a Legacy. News-Herald.com, April 19, 2006 • Siegel, J. (2003) Lessons for Dylan: From Father to Son. New York: Public Affairs • Spence, L. (1997)A Step by Step Guide to Writing Personal History. Athens, OH: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press
Websites: • Aging to Sage-ing at: http://www.allaboutaging.com/ • A Legacy to Remember at: http://www.alegacytoremember.com/ • Chapters of Life at: http://www.chaptersoflife.com/index.htm • Ethical Wills: Preserving Your Legacy of Values at: http://www.ethicalwill.com/ • Family Legacy Video at: http://www.familylegacyvideo.com/ • The Legacy Center at: http://www.thelegacycenter.net/ • The Legacy Guide at: http://www.thelegacyguide.com/