The greatest gift we can give another, is the gift from the heart, when given with love. And no better gift can exist than those we cherish because of their meaning and their intent, for the rest of our lives.
As I watched The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life on ABC last night, from my home in Salem, my heart was filled to overflowing with the depths of the lasting gift that the simple life of one person can make in the lives of a million more.
It strengthened my own resolve to make a difference in this world, by both thought and deeds in even the simplest of ways. It may began with how we live our own lives, how we inspire others, or the good we seek to do.
As a community volunteer for over 30 years, there are many, many times, that I may have wished I could have used my talents to create a better life, through earnings, for myself or my family. But I have always grounded myself by the understanding that it is the simplest acts of giving in my life that mean the most to me. And being a volunteer, whether it is in community projects, helping out in a school classroom, sewing costumes for educational theatre programs or sewing or quilting for others; that simply makes me the happiest....and enriches my own life the most....in that process.
There is a saying that 'it is in dying that we are born again' one which means much more than what the process of facing the challenges of life and dying in order to reap greater rewards of eternal life might appear. For there are the many gifts that the living of that life, and the transitional energies of that passing, than can mean even more...especially to those who lives we touch along the way. The things we can share, the ways we can give, and most of all the inspirations towards goodness that we can pass along.
If the life and Randy Pausch can touch our hearts so deeply, that why can't we also seek in our own ways, to touch that inner heart of the universal spirit and make contact with the goodness each of us has to offer?
As my 'almost perfect' graduation gift this year, I gave a copy of Randy Pausch's " The Last Lecture" in a homemade morsbag.......both gifts that continue to keep on giving. Carnegie Mellon Professor, Randy Pausch, was a gift to all of us, an enduring gift with a never-ending legacy.
All we need to do.... is to simply pass that gift on.
Sewing Note of Interest:
Randy Pausch loved to sew!
He sewed during the period he was working on his Phd. thesis in 1987-88 but created gifts for friends and family, later on, as well. His specialty involved his life long love of stuffed animals. He created a multitude of quite creative stuffed animals, a stuffed hot air balloon/animal, a stuffed paisley car and even a Starkist Tuna can. View these wonderful creations and just imagine the possibilities of the joy they will continue to bring to others!
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/Randy/sewing.htm
Latest Update on Randy Pausch Memorial at Carnegie Mellon University:
August 17, 2008 Carnegie Mellon University plans Randy Pausch Memorial Walk
Video: Dr. Randy Pausch Video Obituary
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