Random Article

Dream Big

Men first walked on he moon during the summer of 1969. When I was eight years old. I knew then that pretty much anything was possible. It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big.

I was at camp that summer, and after the lunar module landed, all of us were brought to the main farm house, where a television was set up. The astronauts were taking a long time getting organized before they could climb down the ladder and walk on the lunar surface. I understood. They had a lot of gear, a lot of details to attend to. I was patient.

But the people running the camp kept looking at their watches. It was already eleven. Eventually, while smart decisions were being made on the moon, a dumb one was made here on Earth. It had gotten too late. All of us kids were sent back to our tents to go to sleep.

I was completely peeved at the camp directors. The thought in my head was this: "My species had gotten off of our planet and landed in a new world for the first time, and you people think bedtime matters?"

But when I got home a few weeks later, I learned that my dad had taken a photo of our TV set and the second Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. He preserved the moment for me, knowing it could help trigger big dreams. We still heve that photo in a scrapbook.

I understand the arguments about of how billions of dollars spent to put men on the moon could have been used to fight poverty and hunger on Earth. But, look, I'm a scientist who sees inspiration as the ultimate tool for doing good.

When you use money to fight poverty, it can be of great value, but too often, you're working at the margins. When you are putting people on the moon, you're inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how out greatest problems will eventually be solved.

Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams, too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay past their bedtimes.

From,

THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch wrote this book after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He spent the last moments of his life writing The Last Lecture, enabling the dreams of others. The book is a summation of the last words of his life.

" We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand" R.P.