Tuesday, July 19, 2011

book

It's interesting how something as minuscule as a book can change your perspective, ground you and bring you back to reality. But of course "A pen is mightier than a sword" I'm sure the saying means otherwise but you know what i mean! :P I can recall a time when my thinking was a lot different. It felt more free.
Then, of course, school happened, nursing happened and it basically took over what my thinking. I was then oriented to a different form of thinking and well those fleeting moments of lying in bed thinking freely began to change into different habits. Here are a few examples. There are nights when I can't fall asleep before clinicals. I'd be alert in bed, restlessly rolling around, thinking about the day ahead. So what do I do? Some may suggest drink warm milk, meditation or read a good book. What do I really do? Take out my clinicals notepad and my textbook and start writing notes, about anything that I would find of importance. From there I would feel some sort of reconciliation with sleep and I'd find no difficulty in dosing off. Another example is, I was about to leave the house to meet with my best friend. I instinctively reached for my medical-surgical handbook just to flip through and read on the subway ride there. But instead I forced myself to grab the Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom (a book I'd recommend to anyone that is reading this!). And I'm glad I did. The book, more like Morrie, made me realize what exactly society does nowadays.

They get caught up with life, with things that we assume are so important that we forget to revel in the moments that are actually crucial. What I respected the most about Morrie was is attitude to in regards to material possessions.
With me, I get caught up so much in my school. I'm sure the course load they've piled up on me is partially to blame, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to cut back and let loose. Well these past few days I've had to enjoy so it's time to pull up the boot straps and finish of this paper for Wednesday. I've have all these likings to go out and do things, but find it difficult with school. Either I am too tired or guilty for spending time otherwise.
"We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our country," Morrie sighed. "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. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it- and have it repeated to us- over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.
"Wherever I went in my life I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?'
"You know how I always interpreted that? These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship." (Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom, Page 125)

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