Tuesdays with Morrie: 2nd of 15 Books to Read

News feeds on media nowadays are all about Vhong Navarro’s issue.   Well, we can’t do about it because people found the topic so interesting.  Better yet, because of discussions we learned something about the law and the details.  But we can’t help also to judge the individuals related to the crime.  As for myself, I pity to all of them.  To the girl, she’s really a victim.  But what had happen to her is the consequence of allowing her self to be a victim.  To the suspect guy, I pity him so much because he don't know what he is doing.   In any angle, I can’t understand him.  To Vhong, he must realize the lessons of the situation.  This is my quote to all of them.

“Be compassionate.  And take responsibility for each other.  If we only learned those lessons, this world would be a so much better a place.”-Moorie Schwartz

I got this conversation from the 2^nd book I finished just recently. 

Tuesdays with Moorie. 

It is all about Moorie Schwartz’s class to Mitch Albom for the last few months of his life.  The topic is “The Meaning of Life”. Moorie is Mitch’s favorite professor way back in his college life.  Mitch Albom is a columnist and host.  He is also the author of The Five People you Meet in Heaven.

His professor had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), a brutal, unforgiving illness of the neurological system.  It is like a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax.  Moorie gave the life’s great lessons to Mitch.  And here are their conversation that touched my life’s journey.

“I decided I’m going to live—or at least try to live—the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure.”

“So many people walk around with 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 doings.  The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

“Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.  And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too---even when you’re in the dark.  Even when you’re falling.”

“To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time.  That’s better.  That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you’re living.”

“We are involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us.  The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted.”

“It’s what I missed so much when my mother died----what I call your ‘spiritual security’-----knowing that your FAMILY will be there watching out for you.  Nothing else will give you that.  Not money.  Not fame.”

“There is no experience like having children.  That’s all.  There is no substitute for it.  You cannot do it with a friend.  You cannot do it with a lover.  If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for other human being, and to learn how to love and bound in the deepest way, then you should have children.”

“Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent.”

“As you grow, you learn more.  If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two.  Aging is not just decay, you know.  It’s growth.  It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live better life because of it.”

Mitch: Why do people always say, “Oh if I were young again.” You never hear people say, “I wish I were sixty five.”

Moorie: “You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives.  Lives that haven’t found meaning.  Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back.  You want to go forward.  You want to see more, do more.  You can’t wait until sixty-five.

“You have to find what’s good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now.  Looking back makes you competitive.  And, age is not a competitive issue.”

“Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness.  I can tell you, as I’m sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you’re looking for, no matter how much of them you have.”

“Devote yourself to others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

“If you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it.  They will look down at you anyhow.  And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it.  They will only envy you.  Status will get you nowhere.  Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”

“I think marriage is a very important thing to do, and you’re missing a hell of a lot if you don’t try it.”

“We all have the same beginning---birth--- and we all have the same end—death.  So how different can we be?  Invest in human family.  Invest in people.  Build a community of those you love and who love you.”

“In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right?  And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right?  But here’s the secret: in between, we need others as well.”

For me, living means I can be responsive to the other person.  It means I can show my emotions and my feelings.  Talk to them.  Fell with them…..”

“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

“As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away.  All the love you created is still there.  All the memories are still there.  You live on--- in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.”

Those are the words of Moorie that I can relate much. When I was reading the book, it reminded me of my father during the last year of his life.  I’m so glad because I had a chance to share with him my time when he needed me.  Maybe that time was not enough but I know and feel that he was happy.  I saw him enjoyed his life after his retirement.  That makes us his kids proud and thankful of him.

This book is a reminder for me to find more time with my mother.  Sorry Inay, I have lots of excuses.  I’m so shame and feel sorry!  But as Moorie said; “There is no such thing as too late in life.”

Everyday, we got great lessons in life.  Never waste a time to realize and live with it. 

Yipee!!! 13 books to go.  So far, I’m doing good with my goal.  Can you recommend a book for my next?