Recommended Reading: Tuesday's With Morrie

Hello readers! Before I begin my post today I wanted to take a few moments to apologize for my recent bout of inactivity. This blog is something I run in my free time, and I haven't had much as of late. My final semester before receiving my Associate's degree is coming to a close and demanding more of my time, as is my job. I'm also currently exploring other living arrangements since my rent for the apartment will be going up. The long story short is, please bear with me in my lack of posts...it will not last long. And I appreciate those of you who continue to check back and read my posts. Thanks so much for your sustained interest in what I have to say and support of my endeavor. 

Mitch with his mentor and former professor, Morrie.

Okay guys! Today I really want to talk about a book I recommend everyone read at least once called Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Albom. I first read the book when I was in about 6th-7th grade. I remember borrowing the book from my father's bookshelf and was captivated by the story, although at that age, didn't take away from it as much as I could have. The book is short, extremely easy to read and very well-written. It captures your attention in such a way that you don't notice you're learning life lessons along the way.  

Tuesday's With Morrie is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom, published in 1997, and although is generally accepted as a memoir, could also be considered a philosophical novel as well. The book has also been adapted into a movie (one I have yet to see, to be honest) that was aired in 1999. An audiobook also exists that is narrated by Albom himself, containing actual recordings of conversation between him and Morrie. 

The premise of the book is quite simple, Morrie Schwartz was Albom's favorite professor and mentor while he was in college however post-graduation, he lost touch with his professor and got caught up in his own, busy life. Later, however Albom finds out that Schwartz is dying of ALS. Albom gets back in touch with Morrie and begins acting as his pupil for one final class; a class on life. 

This book is is one of the best books I've ever read, to date. It's really emotionally powerful and has a lot of philosophical tidbits that I've tried to carry with me. Tuesdays With Morrrie is definitely packed with valuable themes and lessons, some of which I would like to share with you. 

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." - Morrie

I wanted to start off with this quote because I feel like it does a good job of encompassing the overall theme of the book. Death and the idea of eventually dying used to make me extremely uncomfortable, because I, like most others, fear death. Maybe not an all-encompassing, persistent fear, but a fear that lives in the back of your mind that makes your heart skip a few beats when you picture dying, or what might happen next.  This book, and this quote specifically, deals with the fact that death is inevitable, and that realizing that fact doesn't necessarily have to be pessimistic or depressing, but rather can lead you toward enjoying the life you live more. Realizing this can also help with putting hardships into perspective and aid us in allowing the 'smaller things' in life to bother us less and distract us less from our happiness. This quote isn't meant to be negative, but rather hopeful, that once you understand this, hopefully you will be able to live better because of it.

"Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness." 

Throughout the entire book, Morrie talks to his pupil about trying to avoid the material temptations that plague our daily lives. While there is a popular saying that preaches "Money can't buy happiness", I really don't think that is the intention behind this quote but instead I think it is more along the lines of; money, while it can provide a sense of security, experiences, etc, it cannot provide the same comfort that love and human connection can. While it is important to make enough money to live safely and be able to afford health care, food, shelter, etc, many people get blinded chasing after money. They desire more and more and they want nicer and nicer things. Deep inside themselves they think that happiness will come with these 'achievements'. They tell themselves they'll be happier with a nicer house, a faster car, etc. But they neglect the fact that loving one another, helping others and connecting deeply and on personal levels, creating experiences and moments of tenderness and laughter will fill the hole, rather than material objects. I've seen many parents, boy or girlfriends, husbands and wives make this mistake, that rather than spending quality time with their children, or the people in their lives, or providing them with true, unadulterated love, they buy them objects in place of their presence. However in the absence of this authentic love and affection, there is a void that cannot be filled with anything else.

And one of my favorite quotes,

"Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward." 

I think this is such an important lesson and has helped me out a lot recently through my journey into adulthood because it's hard not to look on my younger years nostalgically and wish to be younger and carefree, however if you're happy with the life you've lived you should want to continue looking forward. It's okay to remember the past and past experiences, but you have to continue making the present something you can be proud of. Live in the present moment and live your life to the fullest. But it's more than that. It's suggesting that you work every single day to fill the glass of your life all the way to the top with things that fulfill you and make you happy. Explore new talents and have experiences and don't be so concerned with the wrong things. You should be able to ask yourself often "is this the life I want to be living?" and if you can truly say yes, you're able to keep moving forward.

These are some of the strongest lessons I've learned from reading this book and each time I re-read it, I take away something new. This is definitely something I recommend all of you check out!

I also found this list online, of some of the 'best' (and I say that lightly because the entire book is amazing!) quotes from the book, some of which I may discuss at a later date, if you guys are interested in checking out.