I believe at above all else, Tuesdays With Morrie, is about discovering who you really are, and the things you can do to make that discovery. Throughout his encounters with Morrie, Mitch learns a lot of things about himself, and realizes the kinds of things that really are important. The most difficult thing for Mitch is letting go of the things that don’t really matter and focusing on the things that are going to mean a lot to him way down the road. This is all part of the journey to finding himself, which he does throughout the course of the story.
The first lesson about life that Mitch learns in the book occurs even before his lessons with Morrie. His favorite uncle died young and Mitch, “felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain and (he) could not move quickly enough. This is a lesson about life that were are all going to have to face at some point. The lesson is that we won’t be here forever, and if there are things that we want to accomplish during our lifetime, then we have to go out and get them instead of just waiting around for them to come to us.
The next lesson that the novel teaches us is one of forgiveness. When Mitch went to see his old professor he thought, “I cannot tell you why he received me so warmly”. It had been seventeen years since the graduation ceremony where he had promised that he would stay in touch with Morrie. And yet here he was, a completely changed man from the one that he had been in college and Morrie still accepted him with open arms after all of those years without contact. The lesson here was one of forgiveness. Instead of thinking about how Mitch had abandoned him all of those years, he thought about the times they had shared when Mitch was in college. Morrie was not going to live with anger in his heart for even one moment, because the important thing for the rest of his life was to be around the people that loved him.
The next lesson that Mitch learned about life was to not take his career too seriously, and that he needed to make time in his life for the people that loved him. However, not just Morrie’s words were enough to teach this lesson to Mitch. He had to learn it when a newspaper strike forced him from the work that he was so devoted to. Without that he decided to go back to see Morrie again and of course Morrie had time for him on the next Tuesday. When Morrie suggested that Mitch’s response was “Tuesday would be good, Tuesday would be fine”. That was the point when Mitch learned that the people he loved were more important than his job and from then onward, he continued to make time for those people, which is always important in our lives.
Another important life lesson from Tuesdays With Morrie was the lesson that it is important to think about the things that other people want, in addition to what we want. This became apparent when Morrie was talking to Mitch about Mitch’s brother. Mitch was upset that, “Months would pass without a word from him”. He felt that he should be there with his brother to help him get through the hard time. However, Morrie helped him learn to respect his brother’s wishes to have some space. This attitude eventually led to the two of them speaking to each other again. That shows just how great of a life lesson this was, since it reunited the two estranged brothers.
The best lesson of all that Mitch learned was the lesson that material goods aren’t the most important thing in the world. “Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness.” said Morrie. This time he was teaching Mitch that although many people go through life just looking for materials goods, they will never fill the hole that loneliness creates. The most important thing for him to do in life was to get the things that he needed, but not necessarily the things he wanted. Once he had everything he needed he would be free to spend time with the people he loved and wouldn’t be tied to his material things.
Throughout the novel, Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch learned how to live his life from a pro that had been doing it for a long time. Judging by the number of people that wanted to spend time with him near the end of his life, it seems like he had been doing a pretty good job of living life. Now that he is gone, the best way that we can learn from him is through the novel, but the lesson is still strong. Live life to the fullest and don’t distance yourself from the ones you love. I agree with Morrie in his belief that people would be a lot happier if they could all learn that lesson.
