Thursday, July 16, 2009

Let the Learning Never Stop

If there is one thing that I wish to always hold onto in life, it would be my ability to learn. I never want to stop, grow complacent, or just sit and think, this is it, I am the best, I know all there is to know, or even that I am too old to change, to know. It is not age that I fear, but complacence. The body may get old, feeble, weak, but the mind will do that only if I let it.

Everything we do in life, everything we see, can teach us something, only if we are open minded enough to accept it. Not everything we learn is good, but I believe nothing we learn is a waste. Every failure, every negative situation has great lessons to impart, if only we can receive them. Learning is a lot more than what books and lessons can teach us, learning is about how we lead our lives, what we do or for that matter don’t. I try to learn from everything I see, not always successfully incorporating the lessons, practically, but I do try.

Just like the body, I believe the mind begins to wilt, when it stops growing. Our mind has immense capability to grow, and it is up to us, whether we nurture it to do that, or just let it be. I want to learn, not science, math or economics, but just things that help me grow as a person. Things that help become a better human being. Recently a cousin, eager to get back home after a tough semester at her business school, was offloaded from her flight, because she was late, had way too much luggage on her, and not enough to pay. She was heart broken, to say the least. She managed to get on a flight later that day, but most of her thrill was gone. I told her to write down what she had learnt from this experience, which would help her avoid letting it happen again. That is the kind of learning that takes us through life, with a smile, and some more.

I am not perfect, nobody is, as they say, but it would be foolish to not try and reach closer to the perfection. This was not the way I thought till a few years back, when I let life take its own course, neither learning from it, nor growing, and now when I do realise the importance of it, I regret the years I have lost, without reaping rich benefits off them. And yet, better late than never. I am never afraid to say I don’t know, never shy of changing my point of view, nor apologising when I deem myself to be wrong. All these things may make me seem unsure or indecisive, but the fact is I learn and I absorb. I think, before I accept, but I do accept what I conceive as a betterment.

Life to me is a journey, and the destination is decided, and it is in me to decide, how much I make of this journey.

8 comments:

Smitha said...

GM or PG :) I totally loved your new space :)
The header is so so cool!

And your first post here makes so much sense.. We never really stop learning, do we? As you say, 'the mind begins to wilt, when it stops growing' - so true.

We can definitely find something new to learn in probably every situation.. if we look for it..

Anonymous said...

GM I love the new look. Very cool, classy and straight forward. I love the fact that you now have your pic :). Your header is of course always adorable. Will come back and read. Now I've got to sleep. Love the blog. Give a feel of you totally . Hugsssssssss

sindhu said...

Loved what u wrote...I agree learning is an ongoing process and i too hope there will not be a time when I loose interest in what is happening around me and shut myself in(I went through those too)...

Epiphanic moments.. said...

love your new space :):) shall come back to read the post. Have to run(MIL fuming in the kitchen!) :)

Shrutzz said...

Thanks GM, for leaving the new blog address...
First of all loved the new introduction...nice post, very simple, yet what a message....

D said...

Nice header, Goofy! I think I'll stick to calling you that now :) because I'm not so good at switching from one name to another. And who does these headers for you, btw?

There's a lot of new stuff here that requires getting used to - like SG and BG! I'm going to miss BB and the DH :( but I'll manage.

Piper .. said...

fabulous post to begin a blog! Yes, I so believe that the mind needs to learn in order to grow. But sometimes we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in daily monotones, pettiness and such like, and we find ourselves stagnating. What a perfect motivation this post is GM!
lOVED THE LAST LINE. It is indeed in each one of us to decide what to make of our lives. Only, we choose to ignore that possibility at times..

Passionate Goof said...


Everyone, welcome to my blog. :)

Smitha - You are the first commentator here, so welcome, and thanks. I am always GM, I am a goof and a mother, so GM will always stick.

A - Thanks, thanks and thanks again.

Sindhu - It is really sad when we do close our minds.

Piper - Ha ha ha. Thanks. ;)

Shruti - heyy! Welcome and Thanks!

D - Please do as I said to Smitha, GM will always stick to me. I did the header! Like it? Thanks! :D Not too much hardwork, I get the images from the net and just edit them here and there, and put them together.

Piper - And hopefully the cooking was done, and peace restored. We do become complacent at times, too wrapped up in small, petty things as you say, to keep an eye on the bigger picture, happens to all of us I guess.