I am late to the party to celebrate the life of Randy Pausch. For those who do not know him, Pausch was the lecturer from Carneige -Mellon whose famous "Last Lecture" has been on You Tube for months.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
In 2007 Pausch learned he had terminal pancreatic cancer and had months to live. He was asked to deliver "The Last Lecture" a tradtion at CMU. Instead of talking about death and the time he had left, he talked about living through a lecture called, "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." You can either watch the video, read the book, or download it all on ITunes.
I would like to talk about my childhood dreams for a moment.
As a boy my passions were acting, Notre Dame Football, the Olympics, and finding ways to help people. So at this point in my life how am I on the scoreboard. Pausch would pleased to know that I have worked through quite a bit of my dreams, with dreams to go.
While my acting career never took off, I did do something important in 1998. It was a year after my mom died, and I felt in life she had unfinished business, and I didn't want that at the end of my life. I took classes at Second City in Chicago. I learned improv comedy. I had a blast, and one night a dream came true. I performed at Second City. A friend of mine and I were at a late night improv at Second City, and I got up the courage to get on stage, ask the audience for a situation, and performed an improvisation. I felt great after and chalked that dream as done.
Running has allowed a couple of my dreams to come true. I was never going to be a Notre Dame football player, nor was I ever going to be in the Olympics. Running changed that for me...in a way.
2006 - The Sunburst Half Marathon - South Bend, Indiana. This was my first half marathon, and the finish line was the 50 yard line in Notre Dame Stadium. As I approached the stadium, I choked up and got emotional. Here was the place where I watched my football heroes, and I was about to run onto hallowed ground. Joe Montana and I would have something in common....running out of the tunnel, and onto the football field at Notre Dame. As I got close to the tunnel, I began to tear up. I head the Notre Dame Victory March in the tunnel, and out I came onto the field. As I came out of the tunnel, the public address announcer said my name and where I was from. I had chills....I still do. Charlie Colpaert was announced to the crowd at Notre Dame Stadium. Another item off the list.
That same year, I participated in the Gay Games. For those not in the know, this is the Olympics for the LGBT community. I ran the 5K and 10K races. While I did not get Gold, Silver or Bronze, I finished, and have an amazing medal to remember the experience. The big thrill was running into Soldier Field with Team Chicago, representing the United States in the Opening Ceremony. I will never know what it is like to be in THE Olympics, but I know what it is like to have an Olympic experience.
Helping others is what I do and I love it. These days I am coaching 14 women to their first 5K. This is an incredible thrill and honor for me. I have adored this experience.
I still have dreams to go to Africa and work with people with AIDS. My upcoming research trip to Costa Rica is sure to be an incredible experience.
So as you can see I am working on my childhood dreams. If I have one year, or 50 years left of my life, I can feel good knowing I was accomplishing things. There are people in this world who never realize dreams. I know some. While I may never accomplish all of them....I know I will never stop trying.
So what is my biggest dream? Winning an Academy Award. Who knows, that may still happen.
Randy Pausch passed away this last weekend. While I did not know him, I feel I am learning his lessons for living, and I will work hard to put those lessons to good use.
Charlie
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