Hw - 22 Precis #1

Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom, Published by Doubleday, Sept. 1997
Pages 3-54: I miss my dear professor, it's a shame I did not keep in contact with him all these years. In fact I didn't keep in contact with anyone after my college years. The world, I discovered was not all interested in me, and neither was I to it. For a few years I wandered looking for a job, getting a job and paying rent. Eventually I got a job as a columnist in the Detroit Free Press. I buried myself in accomplishments because with accomplishments, I believed I could control things, I thought about my professor and what he use to tell me, " about being human and relating to others", but thinking about this was distant to what my life was like already. I saw Morrie while flicking through TV channels to figure out that he had become ill and I went numb. I must visit him before he passes. My visit with Morrie was brief because I had to return to work in a couple of days, but from what I got out if it, reminded me of my college days where I found life much more interesting.

Quotes:"You know that I'm dying. I've become much more interesting to people...People see me as a bridge. I'm not as alive as I used to be, but I'm not yet dead. I'm sort of in-between."(p.33) Morrie's understanding of accepting death and becoming a teacher to those around him, has become an apparent factor for those who want to understand the meaning behind illness and dying. "Dying is only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else."(p.35) Mitch's issue with being miserable about how his life has turned up is nothing in comparison to know that you will have to die in the future. So live your life happily because the worst has not come yet."Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own."(p.35) The culture we live in puts a lot more attention on materialistic things that provide a superficial feeling of happiness because it satisfies our wants and needs, but it's a constantly changing system of wants and needs, so one stresses themselves in trying to get the new thing every time. "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."(p.43) Enjoying what your doing is much better then doing what someone wants you to do because it's a unique purpose and meaning you have created on your own, and by creating it, the community around you may take better notice to it.

Insights/Thoughts: Reading these amount of pages in Tuesdays With Morrie has provided a deeper understanding of the meaning of life around the thought of death. Morrie's experience with being ill and dying is interesting because he has made the decision to accept it and make the best out of it. On top of making the best out of it, he has made himself a teacher to those who want to know the meaning behind dying.