SPENDING TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE AND HAVING FAITH

As we grow older, we are all immersed inside our own thoughts, our own problems, our own personal issues and insecurities and we neglect family. And although I know that is wrong, I can't help but still do it. With family, sometimes it feels like it is okay to not talk because you think they will understand. But perhaps they are the one that one should confide in - I don't know.

But I never tell my family everything. My parents are awesome and I do share some of my problems with them, but certain things dealing with thoughts and emotions and feelings, I cast it inside my own brain and I let it rot (hopefully it will).

I don't think there is any way to solve my current emotional status because it is a phase that one will have to go through. And right now, it is my turn to learn to cope. I am generally an optimistic and happy person, it is really not that bad for me. There area days when I feel so low, and I don't even know why but at the end of the day, I just feel so grateful that there are so many people around me who love me and makes me feel so much better. I just wish I could care less about those who doesn't care about me.

Recently I read a few good inspirational books by Mitch Albom.

The popular one "Tuesdays with Morrie" made me cry like a baby, even in public areas like Starbucks. One of the best advice I grabbed from that book, is that on days we feel sorry for ourselves (I don't think I even have the right to), we just let it all out in the morning, and that's about it. Choose to then face the day strong and think of how blessed you are.

Another one that I read by Mitch Albom is "Have A Little Faith". Because I love the two books so much, I would like to share some of my favourite quotes that I have extracted from the book.

Tuesdays with Morrie 

Because I can't let go

"It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it."

"But giving to other people is what makes me feel alive. Not my car or my house. Not what I look like in the mirror. When I give my time, when I can make someone smile after they were feeling sad, it's as close to healthy as I ever feel."

"Do the kind of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things."

"Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. And have it repeated to us until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore."

"Detachment doesn't mean don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That's how you are able to leave it."

"You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say 'Alright, I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.'"

Have a Little Faith 

Because I have trust issues

"It's okay that they other one nudges you a little, bothers you a little. It's part of being close to someone. But the joy you get from that same closeness - when you watch your children, when you wake up and smile at each other - that, as our tradition teaches us, is a blessing. People forget that."

"Because the word commitment has lost its meaning. I'm old enough to remember when it used to be a positive. A committed person was someone to be admired. He was loyal and steady. Now commitment is something you avoid. You don't want to tie yourself down. It's the same with faith."

"Love - the infatuation kind - he's so handsome, she's so beautiful - that can shrivel. As soon as something goes wrong, that kind of love can fly out the window. On the other hand, a true love can enrich itself. It gets tested and grows stronger."

"So have we solved the secret of happiness? - Be satisfied. Be grateful. For what you have. For the love you receive. And for what God has given you."

"When a baby comes into the world, its hands are clenched. Why? Because a baby, not knowing any better wants to grab everything, to say the whole world is mine. But when an old person dies, he does with his hands open. Why? Because he has learned the lesson. - We can take nothing with us."

"If we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have'. We can sleep in a storm. And when its time, our goodbyes will be complete."

"Most religions are against war, yet more wars have been fought over religion than perhaps anything else."

"There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater. But sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life."

With these words of wisdom, I will go through life and live it to the fullest.

That said, tomorrow is work day.

Time to snooze!