Tuesdays with Morrie and Life lessons

Recently, I happened to read a book entitled Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom in which the author narrates about his visits to his old professor Morrie on Tuesdays. The conversations of each visit turn out to be a learning about self, life, people and community. As I was in the process of reading and pondering my thoughts on life I realized that no-one is perfect and we have each day to be grateful towards life for giving us a chance to breath and cherish the moments of life.

Some of the aphorisms from the classic book

1. Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.
2. Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it.
3. Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others.
4. Don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved.
5. Find someone to share your heart, give to your community, be at peace with yourself, try to be as human as you can.
6. Love always wins.
7. The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture does not work, don’t buy it.
8. So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to community around you,  and devote yourself to create something that gives you purpose and meaning.
9. If you really want it, then you will make your dream happen.
10. The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
11. Love is the only rational act.
12. I don’t allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears and that’s all
13. Sometimes you can’t believe what you see; you have to believe what you feel.
14. What if today were my last day on earth?
15. Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.
16. If you accept you are going to die at any time, then you might not be as ambitious as you are.
17. There is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today, if it isn’t the family.
18. Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent.
19. If you have found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you are sixty-five.
20. Money and power both are not substitute for tenderness.
21. Love is how to stay alive, even after you are gone.
22. Love each other or perish.
23. The big things- how we think, what we value, those you must choose yourself. You can’t let anyone or any society determine those for you.
24. Don’t let go too soon, but don’t let hang on too long.
25. Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place.
26. Forgive yourself before you die. Then, forgive others.
27. As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.
28. Death ends a life, not relationship.
29. The important questions have to do with love, responsibility, spirituality, awareness.
30. You are not a wave, you are part of the ocean.
31. There is no such thing as “too late” in life.
32. Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you’re bound to do something else.
33. As you grow, you learn more. Aging is not just decay…it’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand that you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.