Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson

by Mitch Albom

From Goodreads

Tuesdays with Morrie is a short and simple book in which a beloved but terminally ill professor gives his final “class” to a former student decades after they last met.  Every Tuesday, Morrie would depart his wisdom on topics like marriage, family, aging, money, status, and more.  He kept a wonderfully optimistic mindset, which emerges in the lessons he provided to the author each week. 

The book contains insights into the soul of a man happy and content with the life he led, even while on his deathbed.  Although it might strike some as a book full of Hallmark sayings, it’s much more than that.  Profound wisdom is often found in short, pithy maxims which sum up a lifetime of experiences and a life lived without regrets.  In the end, Morrie’s lessons can be summed up as, “love others.”  That is his legacy – love, giving and receiving. 

I was particularly struck by the chapters on growing older.  As someone who is cognizant of age and always comparing myself to others, I really needed to hear his take on aging.  These comparisons are often a realization of what I have and haven’t accomplished.  I often find myself thinking “at this point my dad was doing X.”  Or “by this point in their life, person Y was doing Z and had accomplished W.”  Not always healthy.  The focus should be to “look for what is good and true and beautiful in your life right now.  If you can do that, then in your future you can look back with contentment and satisfaction.”  Accept aging.  The more I battle against it, the unhappier I become.  Then I remembered Ecclesiastes 3: there is a time and a season for everything.  What happened in one chapter of my life doesn’t always translate well into another chapter.  For instance, living in Los Angeles was great in my twenties.  The beach, the bars, the single friends.  Although it was great fun at the time, I wouldn’t want that life now.  But I’m glad I experienced it.  Washington, D.C. was perfect place to live in my thirties.  I was surrounded by young professionals like me building careers and starting families.  It was what I needed at the time.  Now in my forties, living in a quiet flyover state, I get to raise my kids and put down roots.  Where I am now, with children and a stable career, is exactly where I should be…and if I am honest, where I want to be.  Aging is going to happen anyway and as Morrie points out, “the young are not wise and have little understanding about life.  Who wants to live every day when you don’t know what’s going on?”  Put another way, aging is not about decay, it’s about growth. 

Besides love and aging the other nice insight is to “do what the Buddhists do.  Everyday they have a little bird on their shoulder that says, ‘is today the day?  Am I ready?  Am I doing all I need to do?  Am I being the person I need to be?’”  As I reflect upon those questions, the answer is maybe…but certainly not 100%.  What else can I or should I do?  It is about being present, being of service to others, and accepting a finite life.  It is evident from Tuesdays with Morrie that personal relationships were an important part of his existence and it is those relationships that made life worth living.  I know I need to be a better friend to so many people, do a better job staying in touch and visiting friends and family.  People are important but time and effort must be made to make those relationships meaningful and work.  Because when the time comes, that’s what counts.