Advice I Give Myself

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie

The last eight weeks of my life have had me on a plane at least once a week. I have been in and out of hospitals on opposite coasts, I have been in a wedding, I have hiked up mountains and along beaches and just arrived back here after a 14 hour car ride. There was a tragedy in Boston. These past two months have shown me how quickly things can change. Yesterday, I was in Wisconsin surrounded by friends and family, conversation, and music. Today, we have all dispersed back to where we came from and I sit alone in front of a computer. How quickly life turns.

Life is busy. Sometimes we use it as an excuse for not making time for the meaningful things in our lives. We have to decide and make room for the things that matter to us. Sometimes these decisions aren’t easy. Choosing one thing may mean letting go of something else. When you have to make these decisions really evaluate what it will mean for your future. Will you look back and regret not being there for the friend or for the meeting?

I am lucky, I was assigned the book Tuesdays with Morrie by my 10th grade teacher and it shaped the way I made my choices fairly early on in life. It taught me to value love, my relationships, people, and kindness. Today, I have read the book more times than I can count. I listened to it again yesterday as an audiobook, a reminder not to walk blindly through life, and to value it. My last eight weeks have been busy. I have missed some work, meals, sleep, and probably more. Morrie talks about being ill, how some people need to look away from that. I think the best thing you can do for someone when they are suffering is to be there, to not look away because it smells or it makes you sad or uncomfortable, but to hold their hand through all of it.  Sometimes being there for someone means supporting them when they can’t stand up alone to use the bathroom and sometimes it means taking a hand and dragging them to a dance floor. We all need support and we feel good supporting others. Doesn’t it feel good to make someone else smile? It is a magical system that way, really. I share quotes from the book to inspire you and myself to live your life in a loving way and appreciate all the people in your life. When you live this way, you will always find meaning.

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levin said it right. He said, “Love is the only rational act.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie