Get Yourself Some New Knowledge
It’s a new year and what a great opportunity to start new traditions, create new memories, forge new hope. I have found myself wanting to engage in some kind of education or training program. How I long to learn and grow my “hope”. Give me something new!! My family would not label me as a full on self-help guru as I won’t spend $500 on motivational seminars. But, I love to learn.
One of my childhood dreams was to be a lawyer. Thinking back to when I took the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) during my last year of college, I experienced something I later recognized as an anxiety attack. The emotions inside were super intense as I studied just a bit more the night before the test. Though I ate a good meal, I admit that one too many boxes of Teddy Graham crackers were opened. I could hardly sleep that night and lay restless beyond what my body could contain. End of LSAT story: I did fine on the test but didn’t pursue Law School at that time. It is still something in my heart to experience one day. Never know!
Well, I don’t think I’ll get an MBA or Counseling License, but what else can I do? Am I too old to be educated? I am a teacher and enjoy a wonderful career. But at age 51, I want to study and learn! Come on; admit you have something on your life “to-do list” or “bucket list” that involves learning of some kind. Right!? It may be learning to ride a skateboard or motorized scooter without flawlessly, baking and decorating a Star Wars Millennium Falcon cake, playing a mean game of Pickle Ball, learning about an era in history, or editing pictures on your phone (we all see pictures out there and are dumbfounded so many great pictures are from a rectangle since we really don’t use cameras anymore. This is a tiny list of random ideas; but, I believe there is something you, yes you, hope to learn about.
Whenever I work on large odd jobs around the house, my brain has a lot of “self-talking and thinking” time. I tend to work on these projects late into the night and even begin to hallucinate when the job is so huge and taking me longer than expected. Randomly, I start making up songs to sing and have been known to author some of the craziest songs ever. I wonder if my kids have ever recorded one of those “never-to-be-heard again” songs? None of us can remember all the words, but there are some lines we do recall. One lyric was about me not playing tennis anymore, as I was deciding to get rid of my tennis outfits. Makes perfect sense, right!? You have to admit, when you are doing a long, tedious job, don’t you get a little crazy, too?
Recently over our winter break while working on a “closet clean-up job”, I was deep in a sea of photos organizing them by size, year, people, and trips. Not wanting to throw out any pictures in my past, tidying and organizing expert Marie Kondo motivated me with these simple words: you don’t need all the pictures and it’s okay to throw some out; keep what is really special and brings you joy. I did it!!!! I threw out so many non-essential and duplicate pictures. It felt so good!
While working on the photo project, I scanned the many of study books over the years came across a binder from a wonderful program I participated in with some ladies in my community many years ago, called Women of Influence. It was a 12-month program reading one book a month with homework and regular discussion meetings. Okay, this is the crazy part – it was 12 years ago I did this program! I even received a certificate!
The bug to learn was itching more now. After some searching, I can’t be more excited to share that I found a great program created by surfer Bethany Hamilton, called “Unstoppable”. Yep, it’s a 12-month program! This number 12 is going pretty strong. Bethany and 12 different qualified individuals will teach and share about a life topic to help me become the most Unstoppable “me”. Some modules I am super stoked about learning include Be Present, Train Your Mind, Overcoming Obstacles, Optimize Health, Bless Others, and more. This can be a great gift for any girl, woman in your life that can use some humble and practical life coaching.
More than anything, I HOPE you will dig deep into your own dreams and goals and dust them off. Find something you want to learn and go do it. You’re never too old. You’re never too young. I’d love for you to share your LEARNING DREAMS in the comments; you may just spark a forgotten dream for someone else.
“A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel…” Proverbs 1:5
