In The Last Lecture, what does Randy see as the value of a positive attitude?

The ultimate value of a positive attitude in The Last Lecture is seen in how it teaches people to face challenging situations in their lives.

Randy is facing one of the most difficult realities after being diagnosed with only a few months to live.  For Randy, the value of a positive attitude lies in understanding the purpose of both his last lecture and his remaining moments.  Randy suggests that he needed to adopt a...

The ultimate value of a positive attitude in The Last Lecture is seen in how it teaches people to face challenging situations in their lives.

Randy is facing one of the most difficult realities after being diagnosed with only a few months to live.  For Randy, the value of a positive attitude lies in understanding the purpose of both his last lecture and his remaining moments.  Randy suggests that he needed to adopt a positive attitude in order to effectively face his adversary of cancer: "While I could easily feel sorry for myself, that wouldn’t do them, or me, any good." Randy understands that a positive attitude is the only approach he can take not only for himself, but for his family.  He emphasizes the importance of the legacy he will leave for his children.  If he takes a negative attitude, his children will take this with them as their final lesson from their father.  For Randy, the value of a positive attitude lies in the message it transmits to his children.

At the same time, the value of a positive attitude can be seen in his final lecture.   Randy knows that his last lecture cannot be a meditation on death and dying.  Being the "showman" he is, Randy knows that such a focus is not going to leave the audience with a worthwhile message.  As a result, Randy understands the importance of emphasizing a positive attitude throughout the lecture: "Many people might expect the talk to be about dying. But it had to be about living."  Randy knows that the value of a positive attitude is in the lecture's ability to get people to visualize a path through adversity. Randy opens his lecture with an activity that underscores this valuable idea:

I let the slide linger, so the audience could follow the arrows and count my tumors. "All right...That is what it is. We can’t change it. We just have to decide how we’ll respond. We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

A positive attitude is what Randy resolved to take when facing down cancer. Its value can be seen in the legacy he left to his family and to us as we read his final lecture.