‘Loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature’s delight.’ - Marcus Aurelius-Life is based on a series of changes that shape our behaviour, and teach us valuable life lessons. Some people respond to these changes in a rational way, others, may have a hard time adjusting due to the fact that they weren’t prepared to face these new experiences. In his memoir Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom demonstrates the importance of being ready to respond to the changes, especially the loss that him and his “coach” had to experience. Accordingly, individuals must be prepared to face changing circumstances, mainly loss, in order to respond properly.
When Morrie was diagnosed with ALS, his life changed completely. He had lost control of his own body; the professor couldn’t walk, lift his arms, or even ‘wipe his ass’. Morrie’s body started decaying little by little, and he couldn’t do anything about it, he felt like his soul was trapped inside. He couldn’t do the things he enjoyed doing; like dancing, swimming, and walking. Morrie’s life had changed, to the worse after each day. First, he couldn’t walk, then eat or lift his arms, and finally, he couldn’t even move, he started coughing a lot and choking while talking. Thorough all this, Morrie had accepted the fact that he is dying and decided to make the most of his life. He also found the ‘good side’ of his illness, he said: “It’s horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it’s also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good bye”. The coach was ready to face the changing circumstances, because unlike others ‘he accepts what he was able to do and what he wasn’t able to do’, he said, “…and then I felt a certain peace, I felt that I was ready to go”.
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...for him and starts taking care of himself. Morrie also told Mitch that if he needed him someday, he can come to his grave and talk to him, and he’ll listen, and he did, the young man kept visiting his dead coach every Tuesday. Therefore, Mitch was ready for his professor’s death, and dealt with the change rationally.
In short, individuals should be ready to face changing circumstances in order to better deal with them. Morrie has accepted the fact that he was dying and dealt with it surprisingly well. Also, Mitch had to face his uncle’s and “coach’s” loss, and deal with it wisely. Life is like the weather, it keeps changing, especially when we don’t expect it the most. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.-Brian Tracy-
It is truly remarkable how Randy Pausch and Morrie Schwartz stories are so similar but yet so different. They both seem to have an outlook on life in a positive way, not sad or demeaning. The only crippling difference is the fact that Morrie was at the age that wasn’t abnormal to be sick and Randy was just dealt the cards for a short life. One of Professor Randy Pausch’s many quotes during The Last Lecture makes a similar point between his experience and Morrie’s when he says, “…it’s hard to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer – people who get it don’t live long enough.” ALS is such a rehabilitating disease that scientist have issues pinpointing the causes to even get close to a cure, which didn’t hinder either of their strive to keep going as far as they could.
Sadly, life is a terminal illness, and dying is a natural part of life. Deits pulls no punches as he introduces the topic of grief with the reminder that life’s not fair. This is a concept that most of us come to understand early in life, but when we’re confronted by great loss directly, this lesson is easily forgotten. Deits compassionately acknowledges that grief hurts and that to deny the pain is to postpone the inevitable. He continues that loss and grief can be big or small and that the period of mourning afterward can be an unknowable factor early on. This early assessment of grief reminded me of Prochaska and DiClemente’s stages of change, and how the process of change generally follows a specific path.
By the end of the movie, Mitch has found his smile, his self concept has improved, and his “one thing.” He finishes the Relationship Repair that he sought out when he began this journey. He learns to use productive conflict management strategies and enjoy life. He reaches The Adjustment stage when he brings home the happiness, morals, ethics, -- and Norman that he found on his adventure.
Wisdom is a part of this story because morrie has very good judgement, and experience. Morrie is very aware and responsible, morrie told some very great life lessons to morrie and to the class that he taught. More is a very wise man who has been thr0ugh a lot of rough stuff in his life, these hard times he has been through has taught him many new and helpful things that he tries and shares with those around him. He is clever and discerning. An example of wisdom in tuesdays with morrie is, “The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.” (Albom, 42). This quote is an example of wisdom because morrie is very aware 0f this culture and how it works, morrie shows intelligence and respect. Morrie tells it how it is to mitch and gives him some good advice that if the culture doesn't work don’t buy it. Morrie also said, “Everyone knows they’re going to die but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.” (Albom,81). By this quote morrie is saying that the best thing is to not live life in denial. There is as bit of pressure in life to make it count. Don’t be complacent about life. Be aware and try to make something matter in the time you are here. If you don’t know where to start, it usually good to start with giving of yourself and finding out where that
There was a student in Morrie's social phsychology class that year, his name is Mitch Albom. These two characters grew a bond to one another where they spent their lunches together, talking for hours. unfornatuely when Mitch graduated, he did not keep his promise to keep in touch with is loving professor. Based on the reading, Mitch gets lost in the work field and becomes a work alcholic. When his uncle dies of pancerous cancer, Mitch decided to make something of himself, he felt "as if time
Most of Tuesdays with Morrie consists of replays of conversations between Mitch and his former teacher, Morrie. This may seem like a pretty boring topic, yet Mitch Albom felt the need to write this book. Mitch could have easily just gone to visit his old professor, chatted with him, and left it at that. Why do you think that Mitch Albom felt the need to share his story? What do you spend money on and how can you save for things? What does society teach us about money, wealth, and greed?
This paragraph has Morrie teaching on how to accept death and how it’s as important as living. Morrie is afraid of his inevitable death but he knows he has to accept it because it will come and there is also something about death that makes Morrie feel bad for other people like the when he is watching the news and sees people that are across
Mitch spends every Tuesday with Morrie not knowing when it might be his dear sociology professor’s last. One line of Morrie’s: “People walk around with a meaningless life…This is because they are doing things wrong” (53) pretty much encapsulates the life lessons from Morrie, Mitch describes in his novel, Tuesdays With Morrie. Morrie Schwartz, a beloved sociology professor at Brandeis University, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which most people would take as a death sentence. Morrie viewed it differently; he saw it more as an opportunity. This is because he does not follow the so-called “rules” of society. These rules come from the sociological concept of symbolic interaction, the theory that states that an individual’s
Morrie is Mitch's favorite professor from Brandeis University, and the main focus of the book is Morrie, who now suffers from ALS, a weakening, incurable disease that destroys his body, but cruelly leaves him as intelligent as ever before. He had taught sociology at Brandeis, and continues to teach it to Mitch, enlightening him on "The Meaning of Life", and how to accept death and aging. After having a childhood with out much affection shown at all, he lives on physical contact, which is rather similar to a baby. He has a passion for dancing and music, and cries a lot, especially since the beginning of his disease. He doesn’t hide his emotions, but he shares them openly with anyone, and stays in the same frame of thinking as he did before this fatal disease struck. Mitch Albom sees him as a man of absolute wisdom.
I read the book entitled Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It was an amazing, non-fiction book about a dying old man and what he teaches to his student. Morrie Schwartz was one of Mitch’s professors at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Morrie was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, in 1994. This book is about the last few months of his life, and the interactions Morrie had with Mitch during that time.
Death is a permanent fixture in the minds of human beings. People are faced with this on an almost daily basis. Watching natural disasters kill thousands of people, or watching soldiers come home to be buried, gives humans a humble understanding that life is short and death is near. Will people ever come to accept death the way Morrie had? It is not clear what the correct way to live life is.
With the threatening reality of Morrie’s illness looming overhead, Mitch must learn from him just how necessary it is to live life to the fullest. Mitch was living an empty life, a life lacking fulfillment and love. Morrie explained this in a quote “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.” He also explained, “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.” Morrie helps Mitch lead a life consisting of love and happiness rather then material possessions. Morrie taught Mitch to live with the key ingredients of happiness and gave him understanding about what those ingredients are, and how to make them apart of his life.
Morrie’s criticisms of Mitch were never harsh or inaccurate. I believe impending death dims one’s filter of projecting their opinion. If Morrie was tougher on Mitch he may have weakened their relationship. If he was easier the reality of mortality would have never have been accepted by Mitch. The balance of being caring and concerned allowed for Morrie to reach Mitch deeply.
As you read the novel, Morrie talks about his experience with dying and everything he has done to convert his experience into a positive one. In the chapter “The Fourth Tuesday We Talk About Death,” Morrie began to elaborate on the final outcome of life. He connected his experience of dying with religion and explains how religion can have such an impact on others in this process. In the novel, Morrie says to Mitch, “The truth is Mitch, once you learn how to die you learn how to live.” (Albom 82) In this instance, Morrie doesn’t specifically talk about religion and it’s assistance in dying but it does explain how Morrie lived his last few months of life. Morrie learned that he had to overcome the fact that he was going to die so life could become easy. Morrie tried to teach Mitch that dying is the hardest thing in life and once you learn to do so, everything else becomes easy. The second quote from the literary criticism article, Yom
Morrie’s messages about life in this book were not solely directed fro Mitch; they are meant for anyone who is willing to take the time to listen. For me, there is not only one thing I learned from Morrie. I learned that I should not take life for granted because you never know when it will be over. Even though I have heard it many times I never really believed that what the media says is not necessarily true, until I read this book. Finally, I learned that love and compassion, not only for others, but also for oneself are essential in living a happy life. It does not matter if someone is rich, or if they are poor for that matter. The truth is that as long as you lived your life as best you could, you learned from your mistakes, and you are happy with yourself, then you lead a fulfilling life.