Insights from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book that teaches from experience the true meaning of life, what matters and what does not matter in the true scheme of things. It shows an interplay of intelligence, emotions and will in handling unfriendly situations like a terminal disease.
Written by Mitch Albom, it gives a detailed account of Mitch’s conversations with Professor Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor who is dying of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a brutal, unforgiving illness of the neurological system with no known cure. The conversations take place on fourteen Tuesdays over a period of several months.
The life of Morrie is a rare one because he is always more in touch with his insides than the rest of us. through his courage, humour, patience, and openness, Morrie looks at life from very healthier and more sensible place than anyone else.
The book cover topics and teaches important lessons on love, family, relationship, work, community, the world, greed, family, anger, ageing, forgiveness, compassion, and, finally, death.
For Morrie, living a life of purpose and meaning is about focusing on others rather than selfishly on oneself, it is about living for the good of others.
Despite Morrie’s worsening health conditions, he finds it exciting to teach valuable lessons applicable to life, although Morrie eventually dies, his legacy lives on through the impact his life makes on others like Mitch.
Insights from the Book
– The decision on the way I should live with dignity, courage, humour, and composure lies with me irrespective of my conditions. This depicts the interplay between intelligence and the will.
– A meaningful life focuses on being as human as possible, giving to the community and being at peace with oneself. It entails a devotion to loving others, and one’s community, and devoting oneself to creating something that gives him purpose and meaning. A lesson the Nature of Human Being by Viktor Frankl also teaches
– I can create my own culture of happiness based on the right values rather than accepting and living by the environmental culture that breeds workaholism, unhappiness, and dissatisfaction and does not make people feel good about themselves. This teaches the power of intelligence and will
– Money is not the most important thing, it cannot buy happiness, contentment, love and compassion neither can it and power substitute for tenderness.
– Compassion and love are the essences of life
– Trust is reciprocal – if I am ever going to have other people trust me, I must feel that I can trust them and be more open-minded about it
– We all need teachers in our lives because a teacher affects eternity, influences us and helps us to think differently and rightly
– Family is the safest foundation for success. We get love and spiritual security (knowing that someone cares) from family.
– Having children helps us to be completely responsible for another human being, learn how to love and bond in the deepest way
– to get the best of our emotions, we must recognize, acknowledge, and accept them and allow ourselves to fully and completely experience them
– Every human being matters
– Dislike for ageing is a sign of unsatisfied and unfulfilled life that hasn’t found meaning
– True satisfaction is found in giving and serving
– Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others and make peace with the living
In conclusion, the book helps me to reexamine my core values, ambition, and habit in the light of true purpose and meaning, love and compassion for others.
Speaking well