Tuesdays with Morrie -- Week 9

Hi, everyone:) I went shopping yesterday. I bought some winter fashion items: a coat, a muffler and a pair of gloves. I'm happy to buy them because it is so cold in Kyoto. Did you buy anything for this winter?:D


The Seventh Tuesday: We Talk About the Fear of Aging

Morrie lost his battle, he was dependent on others for nearly everything. Later that day, Morrie and Mitch talked about aging.

"Weren't you ever afraid to grow old?" Mitch asked.

"Mithch, I embrace aging." Morrie answered, "It's very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you've going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it."

"Yes," Mitch said, "but if aging were so valuable, why do people always say 'Oh, if I were young again.' You never hear people say, 'I wish I were sixty-five.'"

Morrie smiled. "You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven't found meaning. Because if you've 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 sixty-five." Morrie continued, "You have to find what's good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now. Looking back makes you competitive. And, age is not a competitive issue."


The Eight Tuesday: We Talk About Money

Mitch glanced around Morrie's study. It was the same today as it had been the first day he arrived. In fact, Morrie really hand't bought anything new except medical equipment in a long, long time, maybe years. The day Morrie learned that he was terminally ill was the day he lost interest in his purchasing power.

Morrie said, "Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you, as I'm sitting here dying, when you must need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have." And he continued, "Remember what I said about finding a meaningful life? I wrote it down, but now I can recite it: Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."


I sympathized with the words that Morrie said "If you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more." I greatly admire his words every time.