WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEVER GET TO STOP LEARNING?!

If someone had said to me at 16 that I would be a lifelong learner, I would have run screaming from the room. I mean really ... I just wanted to be DONE with my education, I didn't want to do it forever! We in American have put an unrealistic time limit on learning, that for some ends after your 12th grade year of high school, for others after 4 years of undergraduate. However, in reality, we NEVER STOP LEARNING!

I came to the full understanding of this last Thanksgiving when I attended a Thanksgiving Reenactment at Gaither Family Resources in Alexandria, Indiana. I only attended the event because my son and his high school choir were singing. My initial intent was to leave as soon as his part was finished, but he encouraged my husband and I to stay around. We did, and because we did, I was educated on a part of the Thanksgiving Story that I had never heard before. If Squanto had not been first taken to England and educated there, before being returned to America, the Pilgrims may not have survived that first treacherous winter in the new world. The lifelong learning of one man, had a domino effect in the lifelong learning of many others, including myself! I left that day wondering how I had gone all through my 47 years of life without ever hearing this story. I was so intrigued that I began to research and study it out even more (the learning continued!). As we drove away, I said to my husband, "We really do learn something new every day, don't we? Lifelong learning is something we do even when we don't recognize it!"

It has been said "if you don't use it ... you lose it". This is true in so many areas of our lives, and learning is no exception. How sad would it be to lose our ability to learn new things, simply because we don't participate in the learning opportunities that are all around us. Not only do we need to recognize the learning that takes place in our lives on a daily basis, but we should look for new ways to learn and grow as well. Are you one of those people who left high school ____ years ago and said "thank goodness that's over"? If so, SHAME ON YOU! Look for ways that you can continue your lifelong learning pursuits. Take a class on fly tying, knitting, zumba or computer skills. Find something that has always intrigued or interested you and then find a class in your community to help you learn how to do it. You will not only grow in knowledge, but you will grow as a person who has yet another ability or skill to add to your life experience list. I encourage you to add lifelong learning to your bucket list today, and start looking for ways to develop it!