Lately, i've been reading three books simultaneously. During downtime in the office, i'm reading Tom Clancy's "Red Rabbit". Just before i go to sleep each each night, its "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. And in the toilet, as i sit on the bowl in the evenings, Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays with Morrie". Of the three, the last has given me the most soul-searching satisfaction.
Its actually a true story, about a dying professor, Morrie, holding his final class about life with his favourite student, Mitch. What strikes me most about the book is how it takes what i thought to be true and shows me the weakness of my thinking. It allows me to understand that pride can come from shame, that life can come from death (it MUST!), that peeing into a bowl and having someone wipe your ass is a good thing. It takes generally accepted norms and challenges them.
Looking beyond the obvious...
The lessons in the book go beyond what was written, i believe; a principle to be learned. This principle tells us that we must learn to accept before we can learn to live and give. From love, to marriage, to money, to dealing with the world and death - if we accept them, immerse ourselves in them and see things as they are rather than as goals in themselves, only then will we be able to go beyond them.
Its an irony that everything only becomes clear when you're dying - Morrie was trying to show his young student what he could see - imagine if you could see it as clearly AND have the benefit and vibrance of youth on your side. Do that, and you shall graduate life with honours.
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