The Meaning of Life!

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” When you reread a book much later in life, it gives you newer insights; because you start seeing the world a little differently, as you get older. 

Especially, when it happens to be a book that changes your perspective on life. It was several years ago I read the book ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ by Mitch Albom, where Professor Morrie Schwartz narrates his trip of walking that final bridge between life and death. 

In this book a student writes about his old professor’s final academic course that took place once a week. The class met on Tuesdays in the professor's house. It began after breakfast. The subject was ‘The Meaning of Life’. 

It was taught from life experience. This last course had only one student – the author. No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death. 

The last lecture was brief, only a few words. A funeral was held in lieu of graduation! 

When the old professor was informed about his crippling disease, and that he had only two years left, he asked himself: 

"Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left?" 

He would not wither. He would not be ashamed of dying. He would live – the way he wants, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure. 

He was intent on proving that the word “dying” was not synonymous with “useless.” 

"When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”  

“People haven’t found meaning in their lives, so they’re running all the time looking for it." 

"We all have the same beginning – birth; and we all have the same end – death. So how different can we be?” 

“You’re not a wave, you are part of the ocean.” 

It was Mahatma Gandhi who said:

“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”