Dreams

I watched the Randy Pausch Last Lecture this weekend (along with Commuter Husband, Oldest Son and Youngest Son). There is the immediate impact when watching this talk for the first time (which is significant and includes tears.) Then there is the lingering thought of how can I relate to what he has said. Unpacking that relationship can provide content for many blog postings. Today, I am going to focus on achieving dreams.

Randy Pausch by his own description said he had a great childhood. His own personal childhood dreams and how he achieved them (or not) reflect a healthy parental experience and space to explore his best self.

So what were my childhood dreams? Silence. 
Without going into all the not-so-fun details, I was way more focused on surviving childhood. Fortunately, I did survive by being an over-achiever (remember that post about Grit.) Thus, I have "lots" to show for that journey but my childhood dream bucket is pretty empty.

I do have dreams. They just emerged later in life when I had the emotional time to think about it. Are they achieved? Not really. So the lingering thought from watching Randy Pausch's inspirational advice is what do I do about it at age 47 with three other immediate family members to consider too?

Being a Commuter Family puts every decision under a microscope (at least for me) and as we struggle through the weekend logistics, I am thinking hard about those dreams ...

Here is link ... recommend you carve out the 76 minutes to watch:
Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
"Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals."