Lessons In Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie

“If you’re always battling against getting older, you are never going to be happy, because it will happen anyhow” (Albom, 120). This quote is from Morrie Schwartz who died from ALS. Morrie gradually learned to accept his coming death and aging so he could learn how to be happy. He also decided to share many aphorisms and lessons he learned himself to his friend and previous student, Mitch Albom. In the book Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch writes his every Tuesday meetings down and explains the lessons he learned from his former coach. Morrie teaches people to live life through showing emotions, learning how to forgive, and knowing love goes on.

Morrie expresses that showing emotion is an important factor for living life. Morrie believes that people should not be ashamed of showing their emotions. He thinks it is healthy to show how we feel and that it is perfectly fine to express those feelings. He states, “If you hold back on the emotions- you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid” (Albom, 104). I agree with Morrie’s belief that it is important to fully feel emotions and should not be

ashamed of expressing them. Even though showing emotions like crying might come off as weak, I think it is important to deal with those feelings and let them out. I am a person who is now generally fine with showing my emotions. Morrie’s lesson reminded me of the time my father fully expressed what he felt about a rough time in my family’s life. I am not allowed to go into full detail, but my best friends father went through a rough patch and ended up putting himself in jail. He was my dad’s best friend and was like an uncle to me. My dad usually never shows negative emotions, and this was the first time I had ever see him cry that much. My mother had to explain to me that it was fine for my dad to get that upset because that was how he was dealing with his emotions. I had never seen my parents so distraught, and I had never seen myself so disturbed either. Ever since then, I realized that it is not shameful to show emotion because everyone reacts to situations differently.
Another lesson Morrie teaches is how to be able to forgive.

It is important to Morrie that people should forgive themselves and others in order to move on with life. Holding onto grudges is not something Morrie believes in as he says, “Forgive yourself, forgive others. Not everyone is lucky” (Albom, 167). I agree that it is important to forgive others and that people should be able to forgive themselves. Being able to let go of a grudge against himself/herself or somebody else will allow them to move on or start new. Unlike some others, I tend to struggle with forgiving others and myself. A very close friend who was like my sister turned away from me last year and did something I thought was unforgivable. To this day I still find myself holding a grudge against her at times, but I learned how to forgive her so I can let go and be able to move on from

it.
A final thing Morrie teaches is that it is important to always show love and knowing love goes on. Morrie strongly believes that it is crucial to show love towards each others. To Morrie, love is the most important thing and the most cherished thing. He also knows that love goes on even after someone has passed away. He gives inspiring sayings such as, “Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone” (Albom, 133). In my opinion, I also think love goes on even after someone has passed. I also agree that it is very important to show love towards everyone above all else because people can leave unexpectedly. I learned that love goes on after my grandfather passed away. I did not get to know him as he passed away when I was a baby, but I still love him very much. My grandma explained to me and my brother that my grandfather used to love rainbows. She convinced us that every time we saw a rainbow, my grandfather was thinking of us. It may seem silly, but I can’t help but think of my grandfather every time there is rainbow. It makes me think of all the happiness he brought my mother and older brother when he was alive. His love continues to go on even years after he left us.
In all, Morrie teaches how to show emotions, how to be able to forgive, and how to be able to love, even if the loved one has passed away. According to his lessons, Morrie believes people should not be ashamed to show emotions as he continues to try and get Mitch to let go and cry. Also, it is important to forgive so moving on is possible, whether it be forgiving others or forgiving one’s self. Finally, Morrie teaches people to always show love towards others to know there can be love after death. Morrie’s teachings are important and wise for learning how to not be afraid of aging. He explains that all these aphorisms are ways to accept life and truly be happy.