Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie... an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson.  

      

Like Mitch Albom, the author of this biographical account of Morrie Schwartz, I was in that place before when I was still in school, thinking that I had a greater purpose aside from being able to find work after graduation and make my own money.  Then work did come and my idealisms slowly faded into the backckground. Lucky for him, he rediscovered Morrie, the greatest life teacher he ever had. Unlike for me, I still haven't found my own personal Morrie. Maybe a person like him just comes once ina  lifetime... that one person that can give me clarity and great wisdom about life and how one should live it. Thank God, there is Morrie. And thank God, Mitch Albom was able to chronicle their time together and in the process, bring to the public an insight about a life fully-lived until the very last breath.

Let me share with you my favorite quotes from this amazing book and help you take a peek  into (for those who haven't read the book yet) or remember Morrie's beliefs and principles:

"Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else."

I was with my bestfriend, Jem, this morning. She said that in life, there are three realms. The material world where we are now, the spiritual world where we vibrate on a higher frequency, and the light where we are just particles and energy just like God. Consequently, where we are now, is actually the "hell" that the Catholics refer to. When we find our purpose and self-actualize, that's when we transform to the next level. So we shouldn't really be sad about dying. It's part of our evolution as divine beings. Unless you live a very sad life, then you might not be able to come out of your own hell hole...you will continuously be reincarnated and start everything all over again.

"...the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves... and you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work for you, don't buy it."

This is so true. More often than not, we are bombarded with information and social pressure to be like everyone else... to cater to vanity, power, selfishness, sloth... the seven deadly sins. We must be strong to resist it. If you feel in your gut that this is not what your life is supposed to be like, listen to it. That's your intuition. That's the divine speaking to you.

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're  busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way to get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating somethingthat gives you purpose and meaning."

Need I say more?

"Once you learn how to die, you know how to live."

Dying is tantamount to suffering. And when one has experienced suffering and survived it, the best response to attain self-actualization is to find joy in everything and feel gratitude for this gift of life. Because once you know what pain is like, then you will start appreciating everything that is the exact opposite.

If you accept that you can die at any time --- then you might not be as ambitious as you are."

OMG! This was what actually happened to me in December 2007!!! I almost died surfing in La Union! That was on a Saturday afternoon. Monday after that, I went to work, filed for resignation (after 6 long years of service) and started living a more carefree life! To think I was being promoted after graduating top 9 in the whole National Management Program of the government agency I was working for. Amazing!

"Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent."

This is one of my major goals this year... to not be so attached to things, to be able to let go of my material and selfish desires and to enjoy life more with the people I care about.

"If you're battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it will happen somehow."

Well, I am almost 32 now and I can't wait to grow older and a lot wiser. Bring it on!

"Wherever I went in life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. "Guess what I got? Guess what I got?"  You know how I always interpreted that? These were people always so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or  for gentleness or tenderness or for a sense of comradeship." 

I must admit. I was guilty of this one. I still am somehow. But I am slowly changing that. This year alone, I didn't have any big purchases. I recyled my unused and old stuff and I am less wanting and needing of material things. The next step for me is to spend more time with the people I care about like my parents and siblings. 

"There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage.: If you don't respect the other person, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble.  If you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike. And the biggest one of those values?... Your belief in the importance of your marriage."

AMEN TO ALL OF THAT!

May this new year bring forth  more wisdom and knowledge to my fellow bookworms out there. May  we try to live like Morrie in our own little and special ways.HAPPY NEW YEAR!