Tuesdays with Morrie- 6 Powerful Lessons About Life Through Death

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a beautiful story about a graduated university student (Mitch) in his 30s visiting one of his memorable professors (Morrie) on his final days on earth. Morrie was a professor who gets diagnosed with ALS, a neurocognitive disorder that begins to slowly rot one’s brain leading to death. Mitch makes it a tradition to see his old professor once a week and each time discuss several topics that are at the center of people’s lives throughout their lifespans. These are my six favourite topics discussed and their takeaways.

Death

“Once you learn how to die, you will learn how to live” (Albom 82).

Everybody knows they’re going to die but they pretend like it won’t happen. Instead of not acknowledging it, let's prepare for it. Let's think about the idea of dying. The age-old question- what would you do if you only had 10 days left to live? How would you live differently? Morrie says that knowing his time is short, he is drawn to little things that he had merely glanced over all his life. This includes things like observing the nature of the world around him. Once we accept the fact that death is an inevitable part of life, we will begin to live differently.

Family

Having people in your corner who will watch over you when you’re incapable of watching over yourself is invaluable. Imagine a time you have gone through a hard obstacle, stress, or other life problems, could you imagine not having any friends or family by your side? It’s not until we’re in our darkest moments and are in need of support and love that we truly understand the importance of family.

Money

Money is not what people think it is. We want love and admiration so we buy fancy watches and big houses that we want but don’t need. We realize that the most exclusive and luxurious material can not grant us that tenderness that giving to others can get us. When we focus on giving, and not just money but our time and energy towards something-that is the intrinsic warmth that we are truly after.

Emotions

To be able to detach from your emotions you must first fully immerse yourself in them. In order to move on, one must fully let it go. Experience heartbreak, embarrassment, sadness, and once you do, you can walk away; otherwise, you repress the feeling, and you bury it deep down in your subconscious and continue to see it for the coming months and even years.

Fear of Aging

You’re going to die. You’re going to get old and become dependent on people. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant. The old will never stop envying the young- but that does not mean you should not embrace growing old. Getting old is a beautiful thing. To anyone who says “I wish I was young again”, that is a statement representing an unfulfilled life. But when you’re 50, you want to be able to say, “no, I don’t want to be 25 again. I was 25 once and it was perfect. I did everything I wanted to do and now that part of my life is over.” We can not change the aging process, but we can change our attitudes about it.

Lasting Love

You die twice. Once when your heart stops beating and once when you’re forgotten. How long will people remember you? Who will remember you? Your kids? Your grandkids? Will you be forgotten to have ever existed at some point? And is that ok? Or do you go down like an Einstein, Muhammad Ali, and have your legacy remembered long after you pass away? When your time is coming to an end, ask yourself- “how many people did I impact? What did I contribute to those around me?”

Final Thoughts

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. An emotional journey to talk about the taboo idea of death and some of the biggest ideas human beings wrestle with throughout their lives. A very easy-to-read book, with concise writing, powerful messages and memorable lessons.