Week 13 Let us ever have an attitude of gratitude for our teachers. ~Thomas S. Monson

Lifelong learning seems like a natural state of being for me, but not everyone thinks they need to continue to learn. Many people stop learning to appreciate new music in their 30’s. The reason Oldies stations even exist is because some people cannot tolerate new sounds.  There are people who learn to weld and get a decent job and they stop learning. In today’s society there are countless people in their early 50’s who refuse to learn to use computers. Deliberately cutting oneself off from learning new things is baffling. But it seems some are content with just getting by.

Happily on the other side there are countless people who embrace being lifelong learners. Even without formal schooling they keep up with current events. They READ! History, Science, Geography simply knowing about our changing world adds to the richness of a person's character.

Personally I am not one to read nonfiction on purpose, for fun. But… as I read novels that refer to real things or events I do end up Googling and get off on tangents reading about this or that. Recently I had a client whose main character was a female in the Russian Army during WWI. Naturally, I had to read up on it and I found it rather interesting.
Among my reading and lesson materials this week this theme was repeated again, and again. Stan Christensen, a Stanford instructor and partner at Arbor Advisors, spoke about the lack of worry one should feel about their first jobs. Those jobs should be thought of as stepping stones. Randy Haykin, and others, used what they learned at their first jobs to become entrepreneurs. In fact it almost seems as if it is better to get this preliminary learning before trying to make it on your own.

Before my husband started our lawn care business he did indeed work for a year or two for another maintenance company. He learned the basic needs of customers and we went from there. Of course it was not quite as easy for me as the bookkeeper, since I had no prior experience. But we started small and built upon our knowledge as we grew.
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So even as I am about to finish my formal schooling it is safe to say my education is not yet over, nor will it ever be so.