Zach Sobiech. You Will Never Forget Him.

 

That's what's awesome about living in this world

- you can help people."

~Zach Sobiech

 

Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture

'We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just the way we play the hand.’

This quote is credited to a man by the name of Randy Pausch. If you haven’t heard of him, allow me to introduce you.

Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University was given the opportunity to give what the University traditionally dubbed ‘A Last Lecture.’

Professors are asked to consider their demise and impart their final ‘words of wisdom’ in a lecture to family, friends, colleagues and students.

Randy really didn’t have to imagine what he would say – he had been diagnosed with cancer prior to the offer and was now facing putting his affairs in order. If he had any words of wisdom, he knew now was the time.

With three small children under the age of 5 years old, he moved his family closer to his wife’s parents’ house so that when he passed, they would be able to find support, peace and love amongst those who knew her best. He was not in denial.

I first learned about Randy, his wife, children and the lecture through the internet. I love the internet! I sat in awe of his lecture, watching it over and over.

His lecture taught me so much – from who I want to be, how not to waste precious time – and how to love unconditionally though we know factually that death comes to us all.

I took the lecture to the adult learning centre I worked at years ago and showed it to the classes there. I talked about it to those who would listen and I watched it again and again. I wasn’t obsessed – just soaking up every life lesson message that Randy Pausch had to offer.

He dedicated the lecture to his children – something I thought was so special and would be meaningful to them as they got older.

The lecture was videotaped and went viral online. It was featured on a Barbara Walters special – and his words still strongly resonate with me today. If you dream it – you can do it. Heck, he was even a Disney Imagineer!

Randy Pausch passed away shortly after all of these events happened in his life – and at the end of it all, he still spoke of being grateful. He had accomplished so much in his 46 years – and left a legacy his children will cherish and learn from.

I found his book, ‘The Last lecture’ at a book store and immediately dashed to the cashier to buy it. His perspective was so interesting to me, I hoped he would offer more of it in the book. I wasn’t disappointed.

I’m currently reading, ‘The Last Lecture’ again – and every time I do, another lesson is discovered.

 

Randy Pausch has left this world - I never had the opportunity to meet him in real life, but his story hit me more profoundly than most I'd heard. Perhaps I was in a transition myself, it's possible.

 

Either way, Randy Pausch....thanks.                  

 

THE LAST LECTURE

 

 

Two Years Tobacco Free Today!

We hear the expression, "If I can do it, anyone can do it" all the time. I say it to this day and just like I would have done somewhere back in time, folks just refuse to believe you.

I was the type of gal who did what she wanted to. No regrets. I also decided (back when I was 19 years old) that cigarettes were the coolest thing I could get my hands on. I used excuses ('everyone is doing it') and things of that nature to allow myself to keep ingesting this poison. Looking back - woah.

The day I started smoking was the day my Grandfather passed away. I blame no one for my starting, it's not like I hadn't wanted to anyway. Once I decided to smoke, knowing how stubborn a person I was then, no one could have convinced me to stop - I'm sure they tried.

I smoked for many reasons - all of which were ridiculous....but they were my own reasons. None justified what I was doing to myself and 20 years would go by before I figured it out. I call this 20 year stretch my 'brain on pause' years.

I had tried many, many, many times to quit. I always snuck around, bummed off of friends who felt bad for me and then I would lie to others about it because I figured no one could detect the smell so how would they know?!

When our daughter was born, I did quit temporarily. It wasn't long until I was back on the smokin' saddle and feeling crappy all over again.

More years went by. No quit. I saw the new cigarette laws come in and learned to ignore the warning labels on them. Those disgusting photographs on smoke packs were just there for shock value. I justified it - and I thought I loved it. I think I loved having something to do - something that was always accessible and only mine.

At work all of my breaks went to this time consuming habit. I reasoned I would never get a break if I didn't smoke during mine. There was always a good excuse.

The day I actually quit - it was the strangest thing. I had tried so many times in the past - mostly for others. I had made every excuse I could possibly make to snag a smoke whenever I wanted to. Control myself? Will power? I didn't want to be responsible for this bad choice - yet here I was.

Hubby and I made a choice on February 14th - the day of love - to quit hurting our lungs, our lives and each other with this habit.. The next day, we woke up and never touched another cigarette again. I never even thought about it much. No cravings - no freaking out. Nothing. I had done it!

To me, it was the oddest 'quit' I had ever had up until that point. Attempting to explain it to anyone feels restricted - I can't seem to nail down the words I need to describe the feeling. Elated. Confused. Determined. Done. Those words definitely describe it.

Now, many people say that I quit 'cold turkey' and in a sense that's true.....but they didn't see the millions of justifications, excuses, bargaining moments and times that I had quit only to start again. I explained this to a friend once and she said, 'All of those moments led you to the right one - they were the tools you needed to succeed.'

I agree, but want to add this; I always had the tools....but now.....those tools I used changed. We all 'find the way' in life at varying stages of our own, but when I quit that amazing February day, I didn't realize I had finally decided to use the ultimate tool for success.

Myself. My thoughts. My choice. I was finally using my stubbornness to my advantage!

I changed the way I thought of cigarettes. I believe this had been happening in my subconscious for a long time - everything begins as a thought.

Decide what you want and accomplish it for yourself. You may be in awe at first...keep moving forward....by then you'll realize....you can do anything. 

Cabbage

Cabbage and I never had a great relationship. I recall being in my teens and asking what dinner was on certain nights. If the answer was anything with cabbage, 'kraut' or something of that nature, my evening was considered ruined. I loved food! Homemade french fry night.....that was a whole different evening.

Once I grasped the concept of how good cabbage was for me, I decided I would reintroduce it into the daily meal. Hidden at times, it still really boosts the cancer fighting enzymes in our foods and that's always a great idea.

Cabbage soup, roast cabbage and veggies, cabbage rolls made with brown rice. Shredded cabbage in a stir fry is delicious! It adds flavor - and I love the versatility of green and purple cabbage. I once made a soup so pink my daughter thought it had to have been made of pure magic.

Nutritionally, cabbage is incredible! 89 grams of raw cabbage gets us 2 grams of our dietary fiber. Most people don't get 1 gram in a day.

Fast food (in case that's all you ever eat) doesn't have any fiber at all. Why not you ask? Well, fiber is what keeps our digestive system regular. Fast food eliminates fiber, so eventually we can't eliminate at all and we become sick, full of you-know-what and that's it. Now you know. 

54% of Vitamin A? Calcium? This doesn't happen in any store bought processed or packaged foods, that's for sure.

There are so many great places to find out information about what we eat, what it contains and why it may be good for us (or not). One of those places is Self Nutrition Data. The link is for the nutritional information about cabbage - feel free to do your own searches for the foods you eat too.