Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
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My dad recommended this book to me when I was ranting about my dislike for other “popular” inspirational books. I wanted more from them and I wasn’t finding it.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a little, unassuming, plain book that I would have never picked up on my own. I knew very little about it and my dad didn’t disclose much when he told me to read it. Then, as I was browsing through a library sale, I saw it – sitting beneath the 25 cent sign.
I found in this book what I was looking for. Did I find the answer to the ultimate question? No. I’ll leave that to Douglas Adams and his 42. I found love, honesty, death and life in this little book. Morrie talks about how there are three stages of life, the youth who doesn’t think of death, the middle-aged person who realizes death is something that is approaching, and the older person who has to accept death. As I move from the first stage to the next I’ve struggled with how to accept death. I have my religious beliefs, sure. But, like Morrie, I struggle with how much I will miss those I love most – my family and select few close friends. It’s such a bittersweet feeling, knowing that you must nurture those close relationships, listen to your family, comfort them and laugh with them and then one day, say goodbye to them.
Morrie inspires me to listen more and love more. At one point he says:
“Why do you think it’s so important for me to hear other people’s problems? Don’t I have enough pain and suffering of my own?
“Of course I do. But giving to other people is what makes me feel alive. Not my car or my house. Not what I look like in the mirror. When I give my time, when I can make someone smile after they were feeling sad, it’s as close to healthy as I ever feel.
“Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.”
If that’s not a challenge, I don’t know what it is. This book inspires me to look to other people, to listen – really listen to them. To show comfort and understanding and true joy in whatever it is they need to say to me.
And that’s why this inspirational book is exactly what I was looking for.
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