an inspiring book.

the other day i saw my sister bringing home another book which her friend recommended her to read. and then i didn't quite remember about it as i'm never too keen on reading, unless it's really short or proven to be interesting/meaningful. 

then one afternoon when i got home from college i saw my sister with swollen eyes, thought she just woke up or what. who knows she told me she actually cried reading the book. yikesss. and that was the reason why i got myself into reading this book. also to see if i'll cry or not. 

this is the book, tuesdays with Morrie...

well, in the end it turns out i did not cry at all, neither did i have the urge to cry. aiyo my sister is too emotional i guess :') 

during the recent Raya break where my family went back to the hometown in Johor, we actually watched this Japanese drama "one litre of tears" if you've heard of it before, and both my sisters and i together, used up so much tissue. 

maybe i'm just not that good in putting myself into the story when i read, so the feeling wasn't so strong. watching the story through a drama on TV is a different story altogether. 

apparently, the book bears much of a resemblance to the drama. 

both are based on true stories. 

both revolve around the life of a perfectly normal person who discovered about the disease they got and how they lived through the remaining days in the most optimistic ways anyone can ever think of. 

and both died in the end, but with little regrets since they already made the most out of what they were left with.

the diseases i'm talking about here are similar too, the girl in one litre of tears was diagnosed to have Spinocerebellar Degeneration, where her muscles slowly degenerates and slowly she finds herself having difficulty controlling her body movements, talking, eating, and every action that involves the usage of muscles.

whereas in this book, Morrie is a very dedicated lecturer, who was stunned when the doctor explained his disease to him - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which will eventually lead to death. similar to the girl's disease, he'll slowly lose the ability to walk, talk, and do the most basic tasks in his daily life, including wiping his ass (it was mentioned in the book). it's just like reverting back to living as a baby. 

the author of the book is one of his students who really admired him when he was back at college. after leaving, he lost contact with his lecturer, Morrie who taught him social psychology subjects. he began chasing his dreams, or so he thought. in everyone's eyes too, it's pretty hollow. where everyone's so caught up with what everyone is SUPPOSED to be doing, SUPPOSED to be getting, SUPPOSED to be the way it is...

but the question here is WHAT really is the SUPPOSED way of living? 

it was only after Mitch found out that his lecturer was suffering from such a disease through a TV programme where they interviewed Morrie, he went back to find his lecturer. and most of the time on Tuesdays, like how they used to have appointments back in college times, on Tuesdays too. 

each time he pays a visit to his lecturer, they would be chatting about something, things that bring him closer to discovering the true meaning in life and what he really wants for himself, not blindly following what the world is expecting from him. 

isn't it plain amazing for Mitch to have met such an inspiring person in his life? a respected lecturer who has changed him so much in every way. 

and it is even more amazing for me to see how optimistic Morrie could get even when he's in one of the worst conditions in life - counting down to the days left for him when he's already losing so so so much as compared to us. 

since he lost the ability to walk, he stayed home most of the time, all he could see was through the window frame from his room. there were mornings where he woke up feeling terribly awful, thinking why must he be getting this disease of all things, there are so much more that he wants to do as a lecturer, a family for him to love, but he's going to die.

so he cried alone in bed. then he accepts it, forgets about it, and life moves on like that. 

reading this story on Morrie's left me feeling different. of course i feel lucky that i'm healthy and really happy with the family and friends by my side, i have little to worry about, but sometimes i do wonder, life is so unexpected, why not do what i can when i still can, the moment wouldn't always be there for me, opportunities that come by don't stay. 

and it's really a lot about how i can choose to see or perceive things, sometimes, it is that one split second which is going to change the ending of a situation. just got to think right. 

*wooh, attended the first ever student assembly at MPH today. nothing much except the SIFE club which sounds pretty interesting :)

**ohya, the something which i was unsure of in the previous post, i got an answer to it :) :) so glaaaaaaaaad.

OMG FOB test on chapter one and two tomorrow! study study study study study study....