I, of all people, usually never watch Oprah, but my girlfriend kindly insisted that I watch yesterday’s episode (I think it was a repeat). The topic was about two people that have incurable life threatening illnesses and how they now look at life from a different perspective. These two incredibly inspiring people will never take no for an answer. This article in its profoundest sense is about realizing that life is a terminal condition, we are all going to die eventually — but how many of us are truly going to live?

Randy Pausch – “Dream Big and Go For It!”

How many times while you were growing up did you hear, “follow your dreams”? Yet, very few of us actually did. Randy Pausch believes that we should always be dreaming because anything is possible. “Even if we fail at achieving our goal, we still gain a lot by trying for it.” Randy was diagnosed with an incurable form of Pancreatic cancer but instead of being bitter – cancer has pushed him to live! “I needed to make peace with my disease, even if it didn’t go away” said Randy during his moving final lecture at Carnegie Melon University, “lead your life in the right way because charma will take its course and your dreams will come to you.” Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities.

To watch the full version of Randy’s inspirational lecture please click on the video below.

Kris Carr was diagnosed with rare stage four cancer around her liver and lungs in 2003 at the age of 31. However, Kris isn’t focusing on living with cancer. She’s focusing on living her life to the fullest and not letting something she can’t see ruin the opportunities life offers. “I always wonder why, when we are challenged to survive do we give ourselves permission to truly live”, Kris asks. “We waste so much of our life worrying about the future and we should really be living in the moment.” Kris is a true example of someone who has taken desperation and turned it into her own inspiration. She really does have a truly amazing outlook on life.

“We spend most of our lives trying to live life.
Life changes in a moment.” – Kris Carr

It amazes me every time I see people with such unrelenting personal strength and ambition. These two extraordinary people have enriched many lives and motivated others to achieve their full potential. Their amazing outlook on life should teach us to live life every day to the fullest (and not wait until something tragic befalls us to start learning to live.) I could only hope to one day live my life with the same grace, dignity and joy that both Kris Carr and Randy Pausch seem to exhibit.