Book Review #6
8:40 am
T U E S D A Y ' S W I T H M O R R I E
by Mitch Albom
I would classify this book under the ''Books you should read at least once before you die". A must I would say! Like Mitch's previous book The Five People You meet In Heaven, I could stop myself from reading. I simply couldn't put the book down. I read it in bed, in the lounge, in the toilet, in the car, at cafés --- you name it. I was an amazing and such a moving book. I can't come to think how Morrie could face such hardship and how he could face it and be brave; going through the last few stages of life like that. Morrie was a loving and caring and kind man. He had taught many that it is okay to make mistakes and have regrets, as long as you reconcile with yourself in the end. When I was reading this book, I was submersed in the text I was reading. I found myself written down things and typing out things. My personal way of tagging the paragraphs and pages in which had inspired me or had me think about life.
I fell in love
My heart was broken
Although I had found love in Tuesday's With Morrie, I had also found myself to be broken in the end. Sometimes I feel, an sometimes I would never want to experience such pain and heartache again. But Morrie says it best, "If you hold back on the emotions - if you don't allow yourself to go through them - you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing your self to dive right in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment." Who knew? Who knew that it was okay to show emotions? That it would be okay as long as you don't stay with that emotion for too long.
"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."
This is another quote from the book that I find tremendously enlightening. When I read this line, I stopped and it got me thinking... It got me thinking about everything. Everything that I have in my life rather than everything that I am "missing" in my life. Why on earth should me be focussed on not having that certain special someone, when many of us have uncountable people in our lives who cares for us and who would be with us till the very end. People you care and people in which you can count on.
"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 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."
Whenever someone would ask me what my favourite book is, I would gladly tell them that Tuesday's With Morrie would be my favourite and I would always put this book on the top of my list. I blame but thank Mitch for this book for becoming the reader that I am today. Although this book had drowned me in a pool of tears, it is one of the most inspirational books I have ever been given the privilege to read. The perks of reading this book, was that it felt like you were taking a complete course of Life 101 with Morrie himself as he teaches you about emotions, religion, marriage and much more. I thank Mitch Albom for not only sharing his beautiful gift in writing but also his incredible experience as one of Morrie's students. This is honestly a great book that had literally change my view on life and I will forever be grateful for that.
SJY
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