Create a Life of Meaning

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In a speech he gave in 2007 he spoke about his childhood dreams and how he was able to achieve many of them. I believe he was able to accomplish many of his dreams because he was self-confident and had encouragement from his parents and other adults in his life. He had developed an attitude of being able to do anything he dreamed.  “And that’s something we should not lose sight of … the inspirations and the permission to dream is huge.” (- Randy Pausch, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”)

I feel that it is important for us to dream, to seek for ways to improve and grow. When we stop dreaming, life becomes stagnate and we lose the zest for living. This is not to say that we should not be content with what we have in life. We need to find a balance between these two elements. Dreaming can help us accomplish more as we reach to achieve our goals.

During my young life, one dream I had was to be a mother. When asked what I wanted to be I always would say, ‘a mother’. I have accomplished this dream nine times, each time I have given birth to one of my children. Looking back over my life I know I could have done a few things differently, but one thing I would never change is that of being a mother. Raising my children has been a highlight of my life.

This week we were asked to compile a “Bucket List” of 50 items we want to accomplish in our life. This was a bit difficult for me to do. I realize that my ideas have changed; that I have grown complacent with my life. I did compile that list, but I know that it will be a changing list. I want to work and develop specific dreams for my future. Pausch states that as we accomplish our dreams or goals, we learn lessons that can help us in our lives.

It will not always be easy to achieve dreams. Sometimes we hit a “brick wall.” We may look at these times as a setback or even give up trying. Randy Pausch said: “But remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Part of our life’s journey is to help others along the way. As we can lift and help others our own life will be blessed. I have found one of the greatest joys in life is to help someone else. What greater help can we give than to give encouragement to children and encourage them to dream and to stretch to reach the dreams they have.