Tuesdays With Morrie: Finding The Meaning Of Life
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book that examines a life threatening illness from the perspective of a passionate, mindful, and charismatic elderly man. Medical and nursing programs frequently use this book to discuss issues surrounding chronic illness and death. I viewed the movie adaptation of the book, and in this paper, I will discuss my initial reaction to the story, issues surrounding touch and intimacy, the concept of aging as a spiritual journey, finding the meaning of life, and two examples of the effects of Morrie’s quotes.
Initial Reaction
Elements of aging and death are difficult to think about, and people are busy so there’s not much time for reflecting on life’s bigger picture. For myself, end-of-life realities seem far away even
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He has many quotable thought-provoking statements during his conversations with Mitch. One of them is, “Learn how to die, and you learn how to live”. I think for Morrie, this means that at the end of his life, he is slowing down and not chasing after material things, money or power. He is focusing on the important things, such as relationships. The lesson for us to learn is that people should prioritize what is important while they still have many years left to live. For me, the quote means finding a balance between work, school and relationships. It is in my best interest to work and continue my education, but I can’t let my relationships suffer in the meantime. I must learn to balance it all. The other statement Morrie makes is “Aging is not decay but growth” (Tuesdays with Morrie, 1999). For Morrie, this means learning and growth are lifelong pursuits. He looks forward to the next step without dread. To me, it means not letting the aging process diminish my spirit or emotionally depress me. Instead of focusing on the loss of abilities as I age, I must learn to focus on the positives instead. What abilities do I have? How can I continue to grow? A good example of taking a positive step is continuing my education after the age of
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