A Review

A Review: Tuesdays With Morrie Read for the second time, I still feel an irresistible impulse to express my admiration for the little old man, Morrie, who owns an enviable attitude to the current society, which is described vividly in such a short but philosophic book. Thanks to Mitch Albom, can we get acquainted and communicate with the respectable teacher when reading the masterpiece which is definitly regarded as a self-saving Bible by millions of anxious people, even Mitch himself. As a successful TV reporter on the surface and a nervousness merchant at the same time, he was stuck with a sequence of dilemmas between the nearly unreasonable requirements from the aloof boss and the almost desperate requests from the disappointed wife, reflecting a typically anxious character among the contemporary generation. However, the decaying old man, who is another unlucky victim of ALS(a disease would cause the loss of one’s moving ability), shows a far more optimistic and rational mind during the last few days of his life. When the former intimate teacher and student reunite on every Tuesday, the contrary values they respectively representing for crash in a variety of dimensions. Death, youth, family, relationship, love, desire constitute the main fields of this crash and the main points of this ultimate lesson. Just as Morrie said, “love wins, love always wins” Nowadays, with the growing pressure among the public getting more and more notable, especially when seeking for a position or promotion, the so-called group anxiety inevitably crowd into the people’s horizon and influence innumerable Mitch in the vary perspective of their daily life. But, from those tremendous unsettled souls, it is not hard to extract a common feature defined as the lack of self-recognition. Take Mitch for example. He got his initiative motivation to pursue a more successful life accompanied by countless accomplishments after experiencing the sudden death of his uncle who was once the hero of him, determined “never to end up like him”. He found his successive ambition for a higher fame, a more expensive consumption, more income from the overflowed substantial world and its potential utilitarian intention, which stimulates the unconscious preference to “squeeze in every last piece of happiness before I got sick and died” On the contrary, he didn’t seek for the faith to continue his piano dream; he didn’t ask for the forgiveness to remedy his absence to the whole family; he didn’t realize the demand for keeping in touched with his old friends; he didn’t figure out the position he plays in the society. Self-recognition, that’s what Morrie advised. It means the acknowledgement to the capabilities and the adjustment to an over-estimated aspiration. When asked what’s a perfect day like, “do exercises”, ”have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea”, “…” Morrie responded. This kind of reachable expectations are the real source of satisfaction and delight, which are the undoubtedly appropriate solution to the inevitable anxiety. Not only the relatively lower desire is mentioned as a significant character of self-recognition, but also the concern of one’s family member is considered. “love each other or perish” Morrie said. What Morrie taught us is a lesson about how we should accept us once again and regain the original happiness one more time.