Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie

Life is finite - we all know this. But it is so easily forgettable. Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie is a beautiful reminder what life is really all about. Written in 1997, the book serves as a memoir by the author to his former college professor who passed away of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1995. The author, Mitch Albom, was a busy successful sports journalist who didn’t have much time for anything or anyone, but when a strike occurs with his job, he is forced to lie low and wait it out. One night, he sees his old sociology professor on the news, joyously talking about how his time is dwindling on earth. Albom, who was only chasing sports cars and luxury at the time, reconnects with his old professor and meets up with him every Tuesday, until Morrie passes away. On these days, there is a specific lesson - a lesson on how to live life to the fullest. Lessons from a dying man.

There are so many good lessons from Morrie, which I won’t be able to go over all of them, so I picked some of my favorites.

Mitch Albom and Morrie

Feeling sorry for yourself: On the second Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about feeling sorry for yourself. It’s so easy when something goes wrong to sulk and cry, to whine and pity yourself. “It’s not my fault,” “There’s nothing I can do about it,” “My life sucks.” The words seamlessly leave our mouths with little to no effort. But Morrie puts a time limit on his mourning. Some mourning is good - necessary, but too much is time consuming and selfish. When you need to feel sorry for yourself, let it out, give yourself ten minutes of mourning time, of self pity, and then move on. See the good in everything you can, and get over it.

Death: On the fourth Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about death. Everybody knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it. “I am going to be the healthiest ninety-year-old!” we all think. But in reality, that isn’t always true. Morrie says, “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” With him knowing the end was near, he learned to let go of non-essential things. His career, his car, his money, his ego. When you truly understand any day could be your last, you cling to the things that mean the most. You cling to friendships, to love, to nature, to finding happiness, to enjoying a meal with a loved one. Once we fully understand we have a finite amount of time, spiritual things matter, not luxuries.

Family: On the fifth Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about family. “If you don’t have the support and love and caring and concern you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important,” Morrie says. Family isn’t about a foundation or a last name, it’s about being there for one another when it’s needed. It’s about feeling safe and having someone whom you know has an eye on you. Someone who will not leave when things are ugly. 

Fear of aging: On the seventh Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about the fear of aging. I think we all suffer from this at some point. The worry our skin will wrinkle, our hairline will recede, our stomachs will bloat anytime a carb touches your mouth. Morrie talks about embracing aging. We all are going to perish, it doesn’t matter what you do, it will all eventually catch up to us. A life where we worry about aging is a life unfulfilled. Looking back, I loved being eighteen, but I was far more confused and had so much to learn about the world. This cycle repeats, when we’re fifty, why would we want to go back to thirty? We don’t know nearly as much. We have much more wisdom at fifty. If we live life to the fullest, we should never want to go backwards, only forward. Time will wrinkle our skin and slow our walk, but that’s the beauty of life. Knowing it will end gives it so much more meaning to live it exactly how you want.

Love goes on: On the ninth Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about how love goes on. We all worry about being forgotten. Our family and friends will grieve for us when our time comes, but sooner or later that will dissipate. “Love is how you stay alive, even after you're gone,” Morries says. Can you think of a loved one you’ve forgotten? I bet no. We worry we will be forgotten, our name or legacy will die with us. But if we make an impact - a positive impact, and give and receive as much love as we can in our short lives, we will never fully be gone. We will live on with others, through stories and legends.

Culture: On the eleventh Tuesday they meet, Morrie talks about our culture. Morrie is high on creating a subculture, not abiding by the normal society we live in. Now, he doesn’t mean to walk around naked and loot every store, you have to follow rules. He means negating societal norms that are harmful. Women worry so much they aren’t skinny enough. Men worry they don’t make as much money as they think they should. Don’t believe any of that. Every society has its problems, but live life the way you want to. Work a job that fulfills you and makes you happy, even if you’re making less than your best friend or spouse. Eat that donut because you want to, and don’t worry about not looking like the model you see on social media. Negate the normal culture and create your own.

Forgiveness: On the twelfth Tuesday they meet, Morries talks about forgiveness. He shares a story of an old friend he had that he and his wife essentially cut off because of something minor, and he ended up passing away because of cancer. He truly regrets never forgiving and forgetting. A common theme is how short and finite life is, and more often than not the feuds we have and hold close to us have little to no meaning. Instead, forgive. Move on. Realize no one will remember when this is all said and done. And the most important thing, forgive yourself. Any wrong doing you may believe you did, anything you regret or wish you didn’t do. Forgive yourself. It’s your first time living life, too. Not everyone knows when their time will end, forgive yourself and live a happy life.

This book is wonderful and short. An easy read that you can take however many lessons from it. Make them your own, do what you want with them, and live your life to the absolute fullest. Thanks for reading.