About the Book:
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying of ALS – or motor neurone disease – Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final ‘class’: lessons in how to live.
My Thoughts:
Tuesdays with Morrie is both heart breaking and like a warm hug wrapped into one.
“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.”
Through simple discussions and conversations, Morrie imparts wisdom, shows strength and the impacts of alternate perspectives. It is easy to be upset, angry and even go through “Why me?” moments. Morrie did too. However, he also embraced his ALS diagnosis with a poise that is not so easy to do for most of us, talked about it, listened to people and focused on what he could still achieve.
Though a quick read, each chapter brings to us Morrie’s opinion and experiences in different areas of life, whether for self, family or success. His relationship with the author, his former student, Mitch is beautiful to read about and something to cherish. I enjoyed how the author presented his angst, his feelings and how his interactions with Morrie shaped his thoughts. Once a teacher, always a teacher, but Morrie was more than that to all those he taught. He touched so many lives in different ways, with quiet determination and resilience.
“Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it.” We all have strong emotions and feel things very deeply. Morrie’s advice is to allow yourself to feel all the emotions and then choose to set them aside. This leads to the kind of detachment he describes in this quote. He also said, “If you hold back on the emotions – if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way through them – you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid.” This resonated a lot with me and is in line with a lot of thoughts I have had recently.
This short book is thought provoking and imparts knowledge, wisdom and information in a simple manner without seeming to preach or force anyone towards a specific point of view. It is a story of determination and strength, the kind that reminds that no matter how bad things get, all is not lost. The story in a small way, helps to restore a person’s faith in humanity and the support of community. The author also focuses on how each time you meet someone, you touch their lives in some way and they do the same to you. Each moment like this shapes us as individuals.
A beautiful book to read, Tuesdays with Morrie is indeed a favourite! I would strongly suggest that everyone reads this book at least once!