The aphorism, "once you start running...it's hard to slow yourself down," founded on page 136, is during the process of Mitch and Morrie's conversation about how rushed life really is. I believe this quote is not based off of any type of athletics, the saying is underlining the emphasis of how busy and stressful life can become. Sometimes you become so wrapped up in life, there is hardly a time to sit there and notice the joys or new things in life. It could be as easy as being caught up inside work, chores, bills, or just a 'busy' life in general. Once you being thinking, 'I don't have enough time,' you drive your body into overdrive. It makes it too hard to shut yourself down and to take a break.
I also really believe in what Morrie was saying before Mitch said the above quote. In short, Morrie was talking about having a purpose or meaning. Morrie believed people with a meaningless life wandered around, in a hurry to find that certain feeling to make their life complete or have the sense of purpose. The person begins to try fulfilling their life with equally meaningless things such as a fancy sports car, or all of the Michael Kors purses a person can have. You become so entangled in a mess of all of your 'fulfillments', but it somehow doesn't give you a sense of purpose. In fact, you feel more meaningless and empty inside. I think that's what Mitch was trying to get at, that you go around life trying to find purpose in things you don't really need. You become warped into thinking you need the newest gadget or design to breathe, and you never slow yourself down.
I can connect the aphorism, "once you start running...it's hard to slow yourself down," to a song. I feel as if 'Breathe' by Jonny Diaz is a good relation off of Morrie telling Mitch, "...everyone is in such a hurry..." In the song, Diaz sings, "It’s off to the races everybody out the door/I’m feeling like I’m falling behind, it’s a crazy life." The lyrics from Breathe express the hurry Morrie is describing people being in. The chorus of the song tells the listener to 'just breathe,' expressing to take a breath and slow down from their busy life. I believe once you take that breather from all the stress and business in your life, you will be able to find fulfillment and meaning of your life.
I strongly agree with what Mitch stated because if you do use the aphorism as a metaphor, think of it as running. You're building momentum as you increase your speed and time in running right? Once you get to the finish line, it's hard to slow down because you're going at such an increased rate of speed and your momentum is building up as you run, that you have to begin slowing down before you can completely stop. After thinking of the metaphoric way this aphorism was stated, I began to relate to different things in my life such as before winter break; you're struggling to get everything done, it's so hard to just breathe.
I think my own aphorism would be 'helping is healing.' I came up with this idea as my aphorism because in my own personal life, helping spread awareness about bullying has helped me accept myself and heal the wounds from my own bullying issues. Such things as helping other people with their school supplies has also helped heal me from feeling bitter about growing up with a low income, because I realized that people have it worse than me, and I should always be appreciative. This aphorism can be applied to certain topics and such, but it's a general truth. Helping others can help you heal from past wounds or open sores you are currently struggling with.
No comments:
Post a Comment