Tuesdays with Morrie

My HR department at Career Launcher gave me this book long time back...and I happened to read it now.

Tuesdays with Morrie is the story of a busy sports reporter, Mitch, who reconnects with his graduate Professor Morrie, who is diagnosed with ALS (lateral sclerosis). As the professor counts his days, Mitch comes and meets him on Tuesdays to listen to the last few lectures of his professor  on life. Life as he experiences when he nears his death.

I cried twice while reading this book. Incidentally I started this book on a Tuesday and completed it on a Tuesday...today. Moreover, one day before I started this book, I was listening to an old time favourite gurbani song... Jind meriye, mitti di teriye...ek din chalna i.e Oh my Life! a mound of earth, will have to go one day.

There are two key messages I really like in the book apart from the many.

1. The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesnt work, dont buy it...So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, evenwhen they're busy doing things they think are important. This is becuase they are chasing the wrong things. 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.
2. Love each other or perish. One has to read this in the context of the book, otherwise its hard to understand. He writes, " As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love that 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"

Thats it!