Tuesdays with Morrie - Part 1

Morrie was Mitch's college professor and mentor. After college, Mitch plunged into work and was 'busy' with life. He had forgotten who he was, what he liked doing, had lost contact with his friends and mentor... until one day nearly twenty years hence, he saw an interview of his mentor on TV. Morrie was dying, but he wanted to make the best of the time he had left.

Tuesdays with Morrie is about Mitch and Morrie's last sessions, where Morrie teaches Mitch how to live. A true story, the experience in writing...
Thought I'd read the book completely and then jot down the points that I liked. Going by the amount that I'm jotting down, I'll have to repeat the entire text :) So breaking up the post into two. Here's the first part:

What happened to me:
Back in my university years, when I thought rich people were evil, a shirt and tie were prison clothes, and life without freedom to get up and go - motorcycle beneath you, breeze in your face, down the streets of Paris, into the mountains of Tibet - was not a good life. What happened to me?

Tension of opposites:
Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. you take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull of a rubberband. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.

Find meaning:
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing something they think is 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 your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Self Pity:
"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things in my life... I don't allow myself more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all"
How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.

Belief and trust:
Sometimes, you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.
And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too - even when you're in the dark, even when you're falling.

Quotes from Illusions

Read Illusions - The adventures of a reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach - the author of Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Not sure if it is the subject or the way the book is written, I was not too impressed with it. However the author had some very interesting quotes, like the ones below:

• Quit anything you want, if you change your mind about doing it. Its better than keeping the job and hating it.

• The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work

• If you want freedom and joy so much, can't you see its not anywhere outside of you. Say you have it, and you have it. Act as if its yours and it is.

• Live never to be ashamed if anything you do or say is published around the world - Even if what is published is not true

• The best way to avoid responsibilities is to say "I've got responsibilities"

• There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.

• Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours

• A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed. It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.

• You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.

• Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

This one's my favourite:
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.