Conflagration on the Bridges

Recently, a friend lent me the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. He told me, "It will change your life." Though his voice was heavy with sarcasm, I could see in his face that he sorta meant it.

Intrigued, I dove right in, reading it in two nights. The book's subject is a college professor, Morrie, who is slowly by inexorably succumbing to a degenerative disease of the nervous system. During his final days, Morrie is reunited with a former student, the author of the book, Mitch, and they spend every Tuesday night until his unfortunate passing talking to one another (hence the title). Each night, with incredible clarity and simplicity of message, Morrie delivers poignant lessons to Mitch (and the reader) on just about every facet of modern life.

I'm a bit disappointed to say that it didn't change my life. Most of what Morrie said to Mitch, I'd already come up with on my own. Essentially, Morrie advocated giving up the pursuit of material things for love, friends, and family. He believed that, for some reason or another, most people look for happiness and fulfillment in the wrong places--and therefore don't ever find it. Good advice, but not exactly earth shattering.

For me, it was what Morrie did more than what he said that really hit home. Faced with an illness that slowly incapacitates its victim through paralysis but leaves the mind untouched, Morrie never gave up on living. Day after day, he greeted the morning sun with as much vigor as his weakened frame would allow. And if it happened to be a Tuesday, you can be damn sure that he was going to meet with Mitch, regardless of his condition. Only by accepting reality and then working within its confines was Morrie able to make the most of his final days.

Now, I've never faced anything even remotely similar to what Morrie did. I hope I never will. But recent events have shown me that Morrie's approach is the correct one. You shouldn't fight the inevitable; it's a losing battle, one that guarantees misery. Sometimes, you have to accept unfortunate situations for what they are, no matter how hard your mind and body rebel against doing so. Once you let go of an irreconcilable vision of the future, reality becomes a much more welcoming place.