The Five People You Meet In Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom, is a story about an old man, Eddie, who dies from saving a little girl. He goes to heaven and meets five different people. Each of them gives life lessons that change Eddie’s view about life, love, and people. Every time he meets a different person, he perceives his previous mistakes and finally finds out that he is a powerful, influential person. Three of the lessons learned are about sacrifice, forgiveness, and meaning of existence. All the lessons help him see little bit further and realize that happiness comes after being selfless.
Sacrifice is a selfless act. The first lesson says that sacrifice should not be regretted. There can be no sacrifice without giving up something; it requires
The second lesson is forgiveness helps people escape from the hurt. People tend to think that “hate” hurts the people they hate, but “hate” actually hurts them. People who got hurt hold on the hurt because they cannot forget what he or she did to them. However, if they keep that “hurt”, it only hurts them, not the people they hate. The lesson affects Eddie because he realizes his mistake of not forgiving his father. His father hurt Eddie’s feelings and Eddie could not let go of the pain. After Ruby tells Eddie that his father died by saving his precious friend, Eddie realizes that his father is a much greater person than he had known. Ruby says, “‘Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves’”(Albom 141). Eddie despises his father because of the hurt his father gave him. However, Ruby shows that Eddie was in pain for years not because of his father but because of his hatred. All those years, he blamed his father for ruining his life, but it was actually the hatred that ruined his life. Eddie eventually forgives his father. My friend hurt my feelings once, but I could not let go of it like Eddie. She was ignoring me because my friend was actually under so much pressure with her work and family situation. Now I think about it, I was too selfish. When she was ignoring me, all I could think about was “How can she do this to me?” “How can she hurt my feelings?” It was all about “me, me, and me.” I was too absorbed about my pain, not her pain. If I were selfless back then, I could have wondered about what the other person went through and forgave her. Eddie was blinded by selfishness too. He didn’t understand too why he had to forgive his father when his father hurt his feelings. Forgiveness is required for people’s