Learning and Growing

JAM2b

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When I was young I remember older adults pointing out they people never stop learning or growing, especially if they are open and have a teachable spirit. I remember feeling that was silly, or sometimes I felt it was humble, or that older people weren't as smart as they thought they were when they were younger. The concept made me feel a little awkward and embarrassed on their behalf. LOL How foolish I was!

I have found that what they said is very true. The reason for this is because no one ever knows everything, and also because as we age and go through life experiences we have a different way of understanding things. We catch things we had missed before. There is always something new to find out about or embrace.

I do believe the Bible verse that talks about there not being anything new under the sun, Ecc. 1:9, but in our limited human minds, we can't experience and know everything when we are young. We can learn as much as possible in lifetime, and still only know a fraction of what there is to know.

As my body ages and succumbs to chronic health conditions, my mind is still young and I'm still growing as a person. There is no sign that this learning and growing will come to an end.
 

mukk_in

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When I was young I remember older adults pointing out they people never stop learning or growing, especially if they are open and have a teachable spirit. I remember feeling that was silly, or sometimes I felt it was humble, or that older people weren't as smart as they thought they were when they were younger. The concept made me feel a little awkward and embarrassed on their behalf. LOL How foolish I was!

I have found that what they said is very true. The reason for this is because no one ever knows everything, and also because as we age and go through life experiences we have a different way of understanding things. We catch things we had missed before. There is always something new to find out about or embrace.

I do believe the Bible verse that talks about there not being anything new under the sun, Ecc. 1:9, but in our limited human minds, we can't experience and know everything when we are young. We can learn as much as possible in lifetime, and still only know a fraction of what there is to know.

As my body ages and succumbs to chronic health conditions, my mind is still young and I'm still growing as a person. There is no sign that this learning and growing will come to an end.
Wonderful testimony sister. Praise the Lord and peace in Christ :).
 
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Monna

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It's not a coincidence that we start school in Grade 1 instead of Grade 10.
There are many things we simply cannot learn before our brains have developed to a specific level. And it may be that things we were "taught" when we were 18-23 simply couldn't be fully absorbed before we had had certain kinds of experience. I think too, that with a higher age, you have had more opportunity to experience things, so things you "learned" in school take on such new dimensions that they seem like new learnings.

And then there's language. If you've been exposed to, or learned, more than one or two languages you will have found out that each language has its own special concepts and way of thinking. So learning other languages actually introduces you to new concepts that don't even exist in your own mother-tongue. Remember too, that all human knowledge is embodied in language. Sometimes you think you have an emotion that you have no word for. Since you cannot express it, you really don't have knowledge of it. (Learn a language from a different continent or language family and you just might find the name - and that is empowering.) This is in itself actually an awesome insight, for a Christian reading 1 Cor 13:1. In the meanwhile, I am grateful that the Holy Spirit interprets the deepest (for me un-speakable) desires of my heart and expresses them on my behalf to the Father.

But I have also learned (from running international training programs), that with few exceptions, everybody knows more than they realise and they can do more than they believe they can. The way to draw out this hidden knowledge is often through discussion with others - which quite frequently can lead to totally new ideas and thoughts. We really do need each other to learn.

But my Dad used to say, "You can have many experiences without gaining any experience." We learn a lot at a deeper level when we think seriously about what we've been through.
 
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