Tuesdays With Morrie, Albom, M.

What "Tuesdays with Morrie" Taught Me About Death and Dying Student’s Name Institution of Affiliation Course Instructor Date What "Tuesdays with Morrie" Taught Me About Death and Dying Mitch Albom reconstructs his meetings with Morrie Schwartz, a professor of his in a college who is dying of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), in "Tuesdays with Morrie. " The book is written in the style of a memoir and shows a man struggling with life's fundamental questions and seeking answers during several conversations with Morrie. From their discussions, Morrie brings tips on how to face death not with hatred but with full acceptance, hence receiving it with so much honor. This paper discusses how the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" has influenced my perception of death and dying and helps to focus on aspects like acceptance, relations, purpose, and openness. The ideas of death in the book made me change my attitudes and perception of death and extend my view of what is essential in life. Acceptance of Mortality Morrie Schwartz provides the best example of how a person should live their last days and find the meaning of life. Faced with this new reality of his life, Morrie does not run from or pretend that he does not know that he has an early death sentence ahead of him. But he decides to get involved with it freely and confidently as he says, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." (Albom, 2007, p.23). This statement is Morrie's outlook to an extent because he had the notion that one must understand death to have a good life. He, unfortunately, sees death not as something wrong, which one has to try and avoid at all costs, but as a normal process that is an integral part of people's lives. It is discernible that acceptance, in Morrie's case, makes him have meaning for the remaining days he has in life. He says, “But everyone knows someone who has died, I said. Why is it so hard to think about dying?” (Albom, p.24). From this aspect, one can notice that accepting death is a way to become more conscious of life. This relation of Morrie to death is not a passive one but means a consciousness of life’s moments. The fact that Morrie found it possible to accept dying made me change my thinking about dying in particular. Today, I got to know that I tend to avoid the topic of death very much since it somehow scares me. What I understood from the way Morrie faced death was anyone should face death bravely and honestly to appreciate life fully. It urged me to face my phobia, accept the fact of death, and pay attention to meaning-making decisions in the present life. The Importance of Relationships and Emotional Connections In the course of the events narrated in the book, Morrie continues giving the same message that relationships are the most essential things in life. He asks Mitch, “Love is the only rational act" (Albom, 2007, p. 1...