Life Lessons From a Book

Growing up, I wasn’t interested in reading and throughout my lifetime, I believe reading was boring and a waste of my time. What always interested me was video games and sports, however, this all changed one day when I entered the room of my guidance counselor at my high school. She called me out of class telling me that I was lucky to get a book award from a college, but I didn’t understand why I got it. She told me, “the Book Award recognizes students’ academic success and community service involvement, leadership, and character,” but I told her that I still didn’t understand why I got it if there were other people who are more intelligent than me and have done so much more than me. She told me, “Well there will always be someone who is looking at the things that you’re doing and see your future and potential. They don’t always want the best because sometimes they think they are the best and there is no room for improvement. However with you, they see something in you that you don’t see in yourself, so start believing that you are greater than what you think.” Those words hurt my soul, not because I took it in a bad way, but because I never thought ANYONE would see my effort, but someone finally did and rewarded me.

The book award was from Brandeis University and I didn’t plan on reading the book because I didn’t think it will be worthwhile. Time passed and the book was unopened until I looked at the book one day, it had dust bunnies on it playing together until I blow them away. The reason why I pick up the book was that I thought that if a college gave me an award, which I still don’t understand why I should at least read it. I notice that the college that was mentioned in the book was the same college that gave me the book, I kept reading the book even though book, in the beginning, was boring and made me fall asleep one day. In the beginning, the student and the author, Mitch Albom, and the professor, Morrie Schwartz, are working on Mitch’s college thesis and they talked about the ideas that Mitch can use. It turns out that Mitch uses the idea of how America uses sports as religion as his thesis and later after that, we are at Mitch’s graduation where he promised Morrie that he will visit him. Over the years, Mitch wasn’t able to visit because he forgot about him until he saw him on TV. By this time, Morrie has already been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The first thing Mitch does is buys a plane ticket to go see Morrie and for the rest of the book, Mitch spends time with Morrie until he dies.

Morrie becomes less and less able to do daily things and loses the ability to do human things like wipe his butt. While Mitch is with Morrie, Morrie gives life lessons to Mitch about how life should be lived to the fullest and says, “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 something that gives you purpose and meaning” (Albom 43). This lesson he gives him made me think that life is just more than desire and self-pleasing, but helping others that are in need and finding who you are. This quote made me be sure that I was right, “the truth is, you don’t get satisfaction from those things. You know what really gives you satisfaction? …Offering others what you have to give” (Albom 126). Life is basically a journey to find what the calling of one is and having a good heart and good soul by helping others and doing good deeds. One quote that Morrie said to Mitch that got me confused was, “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live” (Albom 82). The reason why this quote made me so confused is because how can someone die and also live? When I was first introduced to this quote I started wondering about how someone could do this and it made me think about the Bible where Jesus says that to be able to enter Heaven, you have to be born again and people were questioning what he meant and he gave them the response. I came to the realization that Morrie meant that once you learn that death is all around you, you start to value life and want to start doing good deeds and want to do things that make you feel alive.

He was in this stage of fearing death or knowing that death is on its way because he started to lose more of his abilities and he was this gateway for the living people about death. This is why he gives these life lessons to the people that come over to his house and to Mitch because he understands what it means to be vulnerable, humanless, and near to death. Morrie didn’t fear death, he said that he was ready for it, but until that time, he would speak to his followers and guide them on the path of how to live life. He also gave another lesson to him as well, saying, “Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others” (Albom 166). He says this because he knows that sometimes it’s easier to forgive someone else rather than yourself. Sometimes people beat themselves up too easily and never are able to look past themselves because of the mistakes they have made making them want to hate the people around them and the world. However, Morrie is saying once you are able to forgive yourself and love the person you are, you are able to grow and love the world around you. One personal thing that Morrie told Mitch when Mitch was close and started to think about the future where Morrie will no longer be around, Morrie told him, “Death ends a life, not a relationship” (Albom 174). What Morrie was translating to Mitch was that even though he will die in the flesh and have no longer a life, he will always have a spirit to whom Mitch can talk. Although Morrie isn’t alive, he and Mitch will always have a connection and Mitch said in his book at the end, that he will go visit Morrie’s grave on Tuesdays so they can continue their lessons.

I don’t know why such a book impacted me, I believe it has to do with the way Morrie talked to Mitch and the life lessons that impacted me. It moved me to live a better life because although I loved helping people, I couldn’t forgive or love myself in the past. When I received this book, I was a person with a completely different mindset and at the moment, I thought I was happy, but truly, I wasn’t. To be honest, I didn’t even recognize myself and I wouldn’t have because of the dark place I was in. But reading this book saved me and it made me change into the person I was before that dark place I’m proud of being me and I love who I am.