Time is all we have

“The key question to keep asking is, ‘Are you spending your time on the right things?’ Because time is all you have. ” ― Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is an inspirational memoir. He was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania. The book is largely derived from the last lecture which he had delivered to his students while he was suffering from his terminal pancreatic cancer.

I read this book when I was just out of college. Even though I have forgotten most of the contents of the book, the only thing I still remember is that this book inspired me to count my blessings because time is all we have and it depends upon me on how I want to spend it: on brooding or being positive.

The book made me acutely aware of the length of a human life. I know that an average person lives for a little over 25,500 days & a day contains 86,400 seconds. So, this realization motivated me to strive to become the best version of me and to never abandon my dreams. Thanks largely to this book, I am still nourishing my dreams and putting the efforts towards their fulfillment. No doubt, along with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, this book has profoundly influenced the way I've led my life, and the legacy that I want to leave behind. For such books, I often recommend people to read them. I am currently re-reading this book to see how far I've come and how far I've left to go on the road less traveled.