TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

Death is something that most of us – if not all – is afraid of. Some does not want to die
because they think they are still young for it and that there are still a lot of things that they are yet
to explore and experience. Some also avoid the thought of death because they think they still have
a mission to do in this world. However, there are also those who are not afraid of dying. Tuesdays
with Morrie is a movie that tackles about life as well as death.

One thing that I like about this movie is that it can give the viewers an enlightenment on
how beautiful life is. Mitch Albom is a representation of a common life of a middle-aged working
person who tries his best to be successful in his field but is slowly losing the love of his life in the
process. At one point in our life, we will all be like Mitch. We all wanted to do well and be known
in the field we chose to take. But just like Mitch, we will also come to a point where we become
unsure of the decisions we have in life. We become afraid to take risks – to commit. This is when
I think of my least favorite from the movie, I am torn between Mitch and his father. For me, they
are both selfish in a way that they are too afraid of showing what they truly feel to someone they
love which results to breaking their heart. They do not take the feelings of the people around them
into consideration. Love is not selfish, and it is not supposed to inflict pain in other people.

When we talk about my most favorite character, no one can deny that Morrie Schwartz is
the one who comes in our mind immediately. With all wit, wisdom, and life lessons he gave
throughout the story, I would be lying if I say I did not cry once. Morrie was able to wake up to
the reality of life at a young age, when he lost his biological mother. Instead of being a rebel, he
still became a college professor, and in there, he was able to touch a lot of lives including that of
Mitch. Morrie is someone who sees a silver lining in everything. Even if he knows he is dying, he
still plasters a smile on his face all the time as if he is not feeling his body deteriorating. Even if
he is retired from teaching, he still continues to share his words of wisdom and was able to
influence people, most especially Mitch. Thanks to his good heart, loving persona, and the people
around him who love and support him no matter what, he was able to live a meaningful and
satisfying life despite his chronic illness.

Although I do not have any personal experience that relates to it, Tuesdays with Morrie
reminds me of someone I knew before. She is an only daughter from a wealthy family. Despite her
being well-off, only few people know about her inner struggles. She tried to kill herself twice
because she feels like she is a failure for not being able to pass the state examinations. At first, we
all thought that why would she take it as a problem when she has a family business to inherit even
if she passes the state exam or not. Little did we know, no one was able to understand the pressure
she was into for being the only child. For her, she will only be happy and fulfilled if she can make
her parents proud, and one way to achieve it is to pass that exams. Last month, her mother found
her lifeless body just few days after the state exam results was out. Learning that she was not able
to pass it for the third time, she finally did not feel the need to live her life any longer. In a scene
from the movie, Morrie said “Dying is one thing to be sad about. Living unhappily, that’s another
matter.” A lot of us might think that money and material things can buy happiness. But for that
girl, who is supposed to be having fun with all her wealth that she has, making her parents proud
is what makes her happy. We tend to forget that other people’s happiness is what drives people to
live.

Tuesdays with Morrie taught us different things. First, do not be afraid of commitment and
showing a person how you feel. We only live once and we do not know how long we can live in
this world, so there should be no room for shame and doubt. It is better to take risks than to regret
not doing it in the end. Second, let us not be embarrassed of silence. The scene where Morrie talked
about not being afraid of silence because there’s no comfort in noise struck me the most. All my
life I have been avoiding being silent as it gives me the feelings of awkwardness and boredom.
But now I realized that silence gives us the solitude and peace that we all need once in a while
amidst this busy and pressuring world we are living in. Lastly, let us all live a meaningful life. We
should not inflict pain to others, we should not hold grudges against one another, and learn to
forgive others no matter how much they have hurt you. Like Morrie who still love to dance despite
his age, we should not be afraid of doing the things we are passionate of. Like Morrie, we should
live our life showing positive influence to other people because like he said, “Only life that does
not find meaning is afraid of death.”

In this world where we can feel that it seems like we are always in a competition and
survival for greatness, power and recognition, Tuesdays with Morrie is something that can give us
taste of reality – we should not forget to live meaningfully in order to die happily.