Tuesdays With Morrie

I was lucky enough to be given Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom from a friend for my birthday.

I have to admit that before this I had not heard of the book at all. The copy I have is the revised edition published in 2007. Although this book does not directly relate to planning or kids, I really wanted to blog about it as it really made me think a lot about my life, what I want to achieve, how I raise my family and how I interact with others.

In under 200 pages, this short memoir of Morrie Schwartz, moved me to tears and cause to me reflect deeply about aspects of my life. And from the afterword by Albom, it is obvious that I am not the only one on whom this book has had an impact. The fantastic part about this is that people’s reaction to Morrie’s story has helped his wish come true:

“That my consciousness goes on…That I’m part of the universe.”

The book takes you through the weekly meetings between Mitch and Morrie, a former student back with his old Professor. Morrie is dying, but still manages to love and live life to an amazing and inspiring capacity. Here are just a couple of quotes from Morrie that provoked a great deal of thought from myself:

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

“The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family.”

“If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children.”

“You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship.”

“Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.”

“That means you should be with the person you’re with. When I’m talking to you now, Mitch, I try to keep focused only on what is going on between us. I am not thinking about something we said last week……I am talking to you. I am thinking about you.”

As I mentioned above, although not directly about planning or kids, there was so much for me to take from this book that I think will help me to become not only a better parent, but also a better partner and a better friend.