Making The Most of Our Lives
EXTRA: Exploring What We Value The Most With Mitch Albom’s “Tuesday’s With Morrie”
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The next two weeks will be a bit more quiet on my end, however, I still wanted to post a newsletter about a read that I thouroughly enjoyed. It’s not necessarily feminist, or even written by a woman, but it still held value and encouraged me to see myself through a difficult time in my life.
Although this week’s issue will be slightly difference from the last few, as you’ll find the structure will be laid out differently and the content more essay-style, it will still highlight the key themes and lessons that I extracted from reading this book.
Tuesday’s with Morrie is a lovely read that encourages readers to assess their priorities in life, as well as their intentions for the future. It brings about the urgency to see your life with a clear mind, and forefronts the message of the futility of life. Every moment is fleeting, especially when we are thrown into the momentum of a fast-paced world, so it’s important to be clear on your intentions and make the moments count.
In this email we’ll break down:
Quotes from the Book
Analyse the content essay-style
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
In my attempt to reach my reading goals this year, I’ve been more open to recommendations outside of my usual range. Tuesdays With Morrie came to my attention via a recommendation, and within the first few chapters, I was already deeply invested in picking up more of Morrie’s words of wisdom. Morrie’s ALS diagnosis prompted him to share his perceptions of the world with the author, Albom, in hopes that one day his story would be shared.
“You know, Mitch, now that I’m dying, I’ve become much more interesting to people.”
Tuesdays With Morrie follows the last few months of Albom’s former college professor’s life, Morrie Schwartz. Although having grown apart over the years, when news of his mentor’s ALS diagnosis comes to his attention, Albom is compelled to reconnect. Morrie and Albom decide to meet every Tuesday after that first visit, in an effort to discuss the meaning of life and what Morrie has learnt throughout his life.
Profound lessons on love, living an authentic life, and acceptance, are some of the topics that Morrie imparts to the author. All lessons that he has derived from personal experience throughout his life, and that have helped him find the power to reshape his perspective. As a result, this lovely read encompasses themes that are intended to inspire one to live a fulfilled and meaningful life.
“Because I know my time is almost done, I am drawn to nature like I’m seeing it for the first time.”
Love and connection is intrinsically tied to the quality of a person’s human experience, and Morrie is a prime example of such throughout the book. Although you’ll find people coming to pay their respects when one of their own has fallen ill, Morrie proves that the people in his life not only respected him, but were committed to showing him that he was a valued member of their community.
Despite his circumstances, the depth of his loving relationships stood out to me as he was not only able to be completely vulnerable with the people in his life, but his feelings were met and reciprocated. In addition to drawing from his past, Morrie also draws from his present. He goes on to saying, “The most important thing is to learn how to give out love, and how to let it in.” Saying those words clearly demonstrates how challenging vulnerability can be, even around those we care about.
Learning to let love in is a skill; it impacts the way we engage with the world, and ultimately impacts the overall quality of our lives.
“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levin said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational act.’”
Naturally, the people in our lives play a key role in shaping the people that we are, who we become, and where we’re going. So it is important for our own wellbeing that we are allowing the right people in, but in order for us to align us with the right people, we must first align with our true selves first. Some of the ways to attract that sort of love and connection in one’s life, is to begin living an authentic life; one that is true to you.
Morrie’s relationships were based not only in love, but authenticity from what I can gather; the kind of authenticity that aligns you with who you are (another form of vulnerability). Although being pressured into conforming to societal pressures can be burdensome, to be fully engaged in all aspects of your life is to come from a place of truth. Morrie’s thoughts on authenticity are to, “Accept who you are, and revel in it.”
“Now, more than ever, material things held little or no significance. When people die, you always hear the expression ‘You can’t take it with you.’ Morrie seemed to know that a long time ago.”
Acceptance for Morrie played a big role in this book; as we follow him throughout each chapter, it becomes clear that Morrie is accepting that he is going to die. The older he became, the more deeply he was able to experience that love and purpose in his life, even though his ALS demanded so much of his energy and attention. He goes onto saying that death is apart of life, and that many of us know that we’re dying but simply don’t believe it yet. However, in those moments of realization, he also demonstrates how much appreciation he has for the life that he has had.
The acceptance of one aspect of life, led to acknowledging another. It emphasized the legacy that he was leaving behind. However, even in those moments of sharing his achievements, he still showed compassion for those who felt that they may have had regrets for how they’ve approached their life. He goes onto saying, “We need to forgive ourselves. For all the things we didn’t do. All the things we should have done. You can’t get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened.”
Moments of acceptance, even when it is intimidating, can lead to a full appreciation of life.
“Learn how to live and you’ll know how to die; learn how to die, and you’ll know how to live.”
Closing Remarks
Living life to the fullest can be defined by a multitude of things depending on your preferences and how you like to live your life. However, this book provides a wonderful foundation for which to build on. Morrie’s lessons on love, living authentically, as well as to practice acceptance can all provide significant meaning towards your life.
Living life to the fullest is to love and to be loved, to embrace all that you experience with an open heart, as well as to learn to acknowledge both the good and the bad so that we can grow through our experiences. To live fully, is to consistently be present as well as to practice these themes.
Not all experiences are easy, but we can build the tenacity to know that we can get through it by applying these practices as best we can. And if not yet, then perhaps we can be inspired to try. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom will definitely be re-read by me in the future.
If you’ve read it, I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.