Continue to Learn Throughout Your Life
Recognize all the benefits of continual learning and then pursue this goal with a positive attitude throughout life.
By Leland E Pulley
We all went to school while growing up. As adults we may presume that most learning in life is now done, but this is not true. Learning never ends. It starts when life begins and then continues through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood until our death.
Listed below are various ways learning occurs.
A baby learns to walk, talk, feed itself, and get dressed. Playing with other children involves several types of learning.
A child learns to ride a bicycle. Learning is involved in sports and athletic activities.
Social skills must be developed to make friends and join groups. These support good dating activities too.
Adolescents learn through duties and responsibilities. Part-time jobs are great.
Getting married and working out a good marital partnership requires learning and adjustments along the way. Likewise, parenting involves lots of learning.
There are new things to learn and apply when you start and run a small business.
Getting involved in civic affairs is a real learning experience. This is especially true if you run for public office yourself.
Money management is a skill learned over time.
Taking care of your physical and mental health requires knowledge gained over the years. Your needs in this area will change over time. Keeping up to date on your health needs and using the latest medical information requires learning.
The list above demonstrates how much learning influences us throughout life. Most of the time we do not think about learning directly, even though we are doing it or participating in activities that permit it to occur.
It is common to associate learning with formal schooling. Here you learn to read and write and do math. You are exposed to a variety of basic subjects. By the end of high school, you have limited knowledge and skills. With college more learning occurs, but it is usually focused on a certain field of study. On-the-job there is usually even more specialization. What this means is you have a lot of knowledge about a narrow range of topics. To broaden yourself out, seek knowledge in other areas besides what you studied in school or things you do for a living. Do not limit learning to formal classes and job training.
We should continually learn through a variety of experiences. Today the knowledge base available to mankind is expanding at a rapid rate. It is important to keep informed and up to date in a lot of different areas. As part of this ongoing effort, many adults are returning to school. Although you have formal schooling, you will probably seek more education in future years for work or other purposes.
Strive to emphasize learning in your life. Examine your basic desire to learn. Hopefully, you have a strong desire, but if not, work to cultivate it. If you do, the learning you obtain will reward you in many areas of your life. It is a wise investment of your time, talents, and energy.
There are several ways to get involved in learning and gain from it. One is simply listening to what goes on around you and to the conversations you have with others. Curiosity will help you learn about things of interest. Observation permits you to notice what goes on in the environment around you. Develop good study skills. Learn how to remember what you learn and find applications for it. Share what you learn with others and in this process the information will be reinforced in your mind. Seek insights in how to live.
Learning should involve the past, present, and future. With it you will be able to connect these three. Past learning is the foundation to build on today. Learn from the past and let it guide you in the present. Utilize the knowledge gained and skills developed. Study and learn more in the present. This will prepare you for the future.
Just as important as learning are the types of things you learn. These should be truths, not false ideas and concepts. They should be good things, not bad things. These should be useful things, not things of little value. Hopefully, many of these things will have a direct application in your life.
One thing to watch for is the tendency to stay in your comfort zone. This means you seek learning only in areas you are already competent in, or you accept only views like your own. Such an approach does not allow you to broaden out sufficiently. It blocks the progress you will need in the future or for future endeavors.
As you seek and obtain learning, apply it properly in your life. In doing this, your mental, emotional, social, and spiritual capacity will grow. You will gain perspective, wisdom, and understanding. The right types of learning will produce good feelings, fight depression, and reduce boredom. There will be more success in activities and endeavors. You will enjoy stronger and better relationships with a larger variety of individuals.
Here is something most people do not realize. Continual learning is a process that over time produces more good results in the lives of people. With it comes more truth. When truth is applied in appropriate ways to benefit yourself and others, you become a better person and radiate more spiritual light to others. Truth and light encourage you to seek more knowledge and good experiences. This leads to more wisdom and greater understanding. It becomes easier to be an even better person and live a more righteous life. You are involved in a self-improvement process or a process of becoming more perfect. Greater joy enters your life and fills your whole being. What a blessing!
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