“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
–Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
When your time is limited
Randy Pausch learned that he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and was given 3 to 6 months to live.
As a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, he wanted to do something authentic before passing, something that encapsulated his life; who he was and what he learned.
He got to writing and within the next year, he gave a lecture titled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” The talk was later turned into a book, The Last Lecture, which became a New York Timesbest-seller.
Both are phenomenal, and worth checking out.
Playing Your Hand
There’s no doubt you’ve experienced some sort of setback in your life. How you choose to interpret the situation is up to you.
Sure, we need to be realistic; your mentality doesn’t change the fact that you were dealt a 7 / 2 off-suit.
Yet at the same time, you only get one hand to play, so you might as well play it as best you can.
“You’re born, you have a whole set of sensory experiences… and then you die. How you choose to interpret that is up to you. And you do have that choice.”
-Naval Ravikant
Stop focusing on your cards.
Get out, get going, and play the best damn hand you can.