Dr. Randy Pausch, 1960-2008

If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself for ANY reason whatsoever, Google this man, read his story and most importantly - read his speech, called "The Last Lecture".  In this lecture, he celebrates his life, even though he doesn't have much of it left.  

Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.  He was asked to give a talk titled "The Last Lecture" in which he would consider his own mortality and what matters most to him in that situation.  While he speaks, the audience is given a chance to reflect on the same question.  When Dr. Pausch was asked to give his speech, he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  His lecture was titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams".  He chose to give a lecture about living, overcoming obstacles, enabling the dreams of others, seizing every moment.  He said that "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think." 

The lecture is very inspiring and truly puts things into perspective.  Its something to come back to and remember when things aren't going the way that you want them to go.  The best part is that it celebrates a life instead of mourning an impending death.