Never Stop Learning

The best piece of advice I have ever received about life is this: Never stop learning.

I used to think it meant that after college, I should continue my education in other ways but these days I think of that advice as including and beyond the academic experience. It means learning in the biggest school ever, life.

There is so much to learn from other people: their experiences, knowledge, opinions, the culture they live in...I could go on and on. You do not even have to agree with everything you learn, that is the beauty of it. Learning about things that challenge your beliefs is the best way to learn more about yourself.

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

For me, learning is all about being open. I am not saying that you should be a sponge and take everything in at face value. We should just be willing to see things beyond what we know and believe. To be willing to go beyond our comfort zone and take it from there.

It makes me sad when I encounter people who are too stubborn and close themselves off from learning more from life when there is so much we can gain from it. I have seen it in interns who do not take their work assignments seriously and people in the workforce who refuse training because they believe they know everything there is to know. That last one in particular always puts me in the “I-can’t-even” mode. I mean, SERIOUSLY? I do not care if you are the smartest person in the world with a photographic memory; I still do not think you know everything because if you did, you would not be a mere employee working for someone else for your monthly pay. 

We live in a world with infinite possibilities to experience and learn from -- an entire lifetime would not be enough to learn everything out there! I am not saying that we should try to learn everything, but I do believe that we should at least be willing and open to learning when the opportunity presents itself (which, with technology these days, can happen with a click of a button).

Life is full of people, places, and experiences to learn from. Travel, meet people, read, listen, observe...there are so many ways to make the most out of this. It would be such a waste if we did not use the opportunity to learn whenever we can. 

* This is an old entry from my old blog, edited/updated for this one. Hope you liked it!