Lately, I’ve been reading Tuesdays with Morrie — a book of weekly conversations between a student and his dying professor, Morrie Schwartz, who had ALS.
At first, I thought it would be a sad and heavy story, but a friend recommended it, so I decided to give it a chance.
Turns out, it’s not just about dying — it’s about how to live.
“Do You Fear Getting Old?”
In one chapter, a student asks Morrie,
“Do you fear getting old? Or do you envy young people?”
Morrie replies,
“I don’t. I’ve already been through all those stages. I embrace aging and becoming old.”
That line stuck with me.
I’m 28 now. I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of getting older, but sometimes I do find myself missing my university days — the fun, the chaos, the beautiful stupidity of that time.
Still, when I ask myself whether I embrace being 28, the answer is yes.
Finding Meaning Means Moving Forward
Morrie also says,
“If you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back.
You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more.
You can’t wait until sixty-five.”
That makes complete sense to me.
It’s like when you’ve booked a trip to Thailand next week — you can’t wait for it to come. You look forward to it so much that you’re already halfway there in your mind.
That sense of anticipation for what’s ahead — that’s what makes life exciting.
Embracing the Present, Anticipating the Future
For me, finding meaning right now means building a joyful life —
and to have joy is to dive deeply into things I truly love, sharing them with my partner and friends.
That’s how I want to live, all the way to the end.
When I talk about the future with my wife, I feel excited — not anxious.
It reminds me that life keeps offering new pages to write, as long as you keep turning them.
If you start looking forward with curiosity, you stop envying the past.
Because the best chapters are still unwritten.
