Humpday Happenings...
Life is chock full of inevitabilities...that's a given.
LEARNING happens to be pretty near the top of the heap, too.
Learning something...anything...IS inevitable.
From the day we're born until the day we take that long dirt nap, we ARE learning, like it or not.
(hopefully, anyway)
As an infant we "learn" that when we cry, our needs are mysteriously met.
We learn to crawl, walk and run, as well as learn to use the "potty".
We learn how to eat with utensils, and how to behave.
As we grow older, we go to schools to learn about life's "specifics", such as English, Math, Science and History.
We learn the meaning of being a responsible individual, and how to fend for ourselves.
We learn what the words respect, integrity, and honesty are all about.
We learn what is meant by "cause and effect".
We learn that EVERY choice we make in life is not without it's good AND bad sides.
As we age further, we learn how to enmesh ourselves in a lasting relationship and perhaps even raise a family.
We've also learned how to drive, perform well enough in our jobs to remain there, and learn how to manage our finances.
As we grow older still, we learn about our own mortality, and that the body, sooner or later, simply cannot keep up with our minds.
We learn to plan for our retirements, and eventually our own passing.
And all along this incredible journey, we're "fine tuning" our lives as we go.
The subtle nuances that encompass our lives, as well as the lives we touch take on new meaning.
It's about caring...for ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and relatives.
Well, that's the way it was all INTENDED to work.
But for many people today, they've got gaping holes where all this learning SHOULD have gone.
What went wrong there?
Perhaps it was a bad home environment; a lack of caring by one or both parents. Maybe it was getting in with the wrong crowd growing up that led to a series of bad choices.
Or it could have just been a head full of "bad wiring" from birth...who can say?
What is often missing from more than a few in the past several generations is a sense of challenging oneself.
Used to be a time when there was a true THIRST for knowledge.
Learning was fun, even if it meant falling down along the way as a lesson in what NOT to do.
It was easy enough to get the hell back UP, dust off your butt, and get right back into it.
Not seeing nearly as much of that today, as in decades past...how about you?
Fortunately, we STILL DO have people that ascribe to such "lofty" pursuits, but they're in the minority, when they SHOULD be in the majority. That just seems wrong to me.
There was something said to me as I was growing up (by almost everyone for that matter...lol) which happened to be something that "sticks" with you all through life.
"Don't be afraid to ask questions...that's how you learn stuff".
Didn't matter who you asked, either. You could ask a teacher, a pastor, your parents, or you could do the "unthinkable", and find the answers YOURSELF by reading at a library, or even by trial and error.
No matter which method you chose, you WOULD be assured with answers to the questions that were rattling around in the old noggin.
You might not like the answers in some cases, but that's another part of LEARNING.
You learn to accept defeat just as you would accept victory.
And with acceptance comes the fact that you know you CAN move on a much more informed and educated person.
Like most anything YOU do in life, learning comes down to...(all together gang)...YOU.
No one can inject you with "smarts", and you can't bop out to the local Deli and grab a 1/2 pound of intellect.
You can't learn by OSMOSIS, either. Holding a damn book against one's head is NOT going to get you that diploma, or allow you any level of scholastic clairvoyance.
You have to APPLY yourself...it's that simple.
You're past that age where people are meeting YOUR needs, because you cry them a river
You have to meet your needs YOURSELF.
And you have to do it in a manner that harms no one else, especially YOU.
That's another place where some people tend to get "struck in the mud".
They feel the world OWES them a living, and will do anything to anyone to make it happen.
They are of the entitlement mindset, and quite frankly, do nothing for themselves.
They are everyone else's problem.
And, as is often the case, some governmental agency comes along and takes them by their hand and leads them through life.
All that is really needed is to instill a sense of SELF-WORTH into these people.
They haven't yet learned that they, THEMSELVES are the key to their own future.
Granted, "we ALL need somebody to lean on" (as the song goes) from time to time, and that's where another part of our learning surfaces. We learn to know WHO we CAN go to, and who can come to us if they should need our help, or even our ear, when they need to voice their concerns.
That's all part of this human condition.
It's part of our life.
And it's to this part, that each of us needs to attend daily.
We just cannot arbitrarily say we're finished, and then stick it on some shelf to gather dust.
Learning has to be nurtured, cared for, and even revered for what it CAN do in every one of our lives.
We learn so that we teach ourselves; so that we may teach others.
And by teaching that which we have learned, we promote humanity itself.
So go out and learn something today, and by all means, feel free to pass it on.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.