One vital catalyst to action is learning new information. Lifelong learners are galvanized more often than those who think they’ve “seen it all.”
Children have unparalleled curiosity; discovery is at the core of their being. During our youth, we often experience that “rush” inside when the metaphoric light bulb comes on. We feel more alive than ever. Ah, to be kids again!
Yet we are! Our problem is that, as we kids “matured,” we allowed a refuse of stress and busyness to overshadow the playground. We sometimes blindly amble amid mother lodes of treasure because we’ve accepted a mirage of mundane-ness. Many have simply stopped learning, with an attitude of “I paid my dues; I graduated from college.”
One study indicates that 42% of all college graduates have not read another book since. That’s both alarming and tragic. As Zig Ziglar once said, “If you don’t continue to learn, you’re going to miss out on a lot of good things.” And I believe that if we’re honest with ourselves we’ll recognize that we wander plenty; we need to wonder more!
The Greeks called this Paideia. The Paideia philosophy is that to be fully educated is a life-long journey, which only begins with formal schooling.
I personally have found this to be true in the practice of law. When I graduated from law school many years ago, I probably knew more black-letter law that I ever will again. But I knew nothing about practicing law. My education as an attorney had only just begun.
In talking with doctors, accountants, teachers and other workers of many types, I am not alone. What’s more, the principle not only applies in our careers but in all areas of life. One proverb of King Solomon states, “Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.”
Actress and singer Eartha Kitt, who passed away on Christmas Day 2008, subscribed to this view. She prophetically stated, “I’m learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.” Ms. Kitt had a challenging life. By one account, she was an out-of-wedlock child born in a South Carolina cotton field. She was conceived by a plantation owner’s rape of her sharecropper mother. Given away by her mother, Eartha found herself in Harlem at age nine. She quit school at age 15 to work in a Brooklyn factory. At times, she lived in the subways.
But she continuously learned along the way, rising above poverty by singing and dancing all over the world. She later became a television star as Cat Woman. She would never have achieved such acclaim without her relentless quest for learning.
Note that lifelong learning does not happen by chance. When we are mentally lazy and, in effect, outsource our brains – taking others and events at mere face value – our brains (and our lives) can float down a lazy, mundane river. If we want to reap the benefits of lifelong learning, we must be purposeful.
Try partaking of the following:
• Travel (learn a new culture);
• Take up a new hobby (learn new crafts / skills);
• Read (choosing a variety of genres );
• Enroll in community / continuing education classes;
• Utilize audio books / seminars, which interest you; and
• Stretch your sense of humor by observational / intellectual humor (e.g., Jon Stewart, George Carlin, Dave Barry, etc.).
The avenues of lifelong learning are virtually endless. “School” is in session all around you.
Get galvanized, scholar!
© 2012 Russ Riddle. All rights reserved.