Tuesdays with Morrie

The book Tuesdays with Morrie brought up many of the conflicts people face during a life time. Finding serenity in helplessness was a struggle that Morrie had to conquer every day of his last weeks of life. The way he coped with his pending death was spreading wisdom he had gained over his lifetime. Mitch gained the most from these lessons about money, society, and family by learning not that he has become one of those people that are stuck in a meaningless life but by learning that love is the most important aspect of life. Morrie did not want pity for his disease he just wanted love, which Mitch slowly begins to understand through the progression of the book. He begins to take over Morrie’s physical therapy because he notices that Morrie just wants human contact. At the end of the book, Mitch incorporates this into his own life, when he contacts his brother and expresses love rather then pity. Sometimes people who are going through a hard time, whether a terminal disease or just a bad day, get frustrated and angry with people who feel sorry for them. Love and a listening ear are all they want.

Tuesdays with Morrie ties into our Paideia group we understand human behavior through Morrie’s gain of wisdom. He would rather spread the word of what he understands from his life then to coward away because of a disease that is slowly killing him. He could have easily lived his last days hidden away feeling sorry for himself. Morrie gained knowledge about life through death. He wanted to share it to the young so that they could live while they were still alive. One of my favorite quotes was “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. 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." I have been trying through my own life to create purpose and meaning. Being in college it is hard to determine what is important. I feel like I get caught up in grades and stressful classes. It’s hard to appreciate the little things in life when looking at the big picture, the future. I feel like Paideia is helping me find importance in my life. Devoting ourselves to our community, one of the ways to create a meaningful life.