by Wes Fessler |
Learning Something New Every Day |
November 4 , 2010 |
Nearly everyone has heard the phrase, “You learn something new every day.” It is a quaint saying that is frequently used in jest when people discover a new fact that they had not known before. The phrase is commonly uttered in a tone of sarcastic dismissal that causes one to wonder whether people actually do learn something new everyday…well do they?
Learning of Value
There is no doubt that people do in fact learn new things everyday. Simply by waking up and turning off the alarm clock, people learn that they continue to exist, that their clocks are still working, and whether, in their waking condition, they are feeling groggy or refreshed. The more appropriate question then is do we learn something new that is of value everyday?
Making an Effort
Learning something daily that is beneficial to our lives is a possibility, but it is not guaranteed without a conscious effort on our part. Learning of this caliber often requires us to question the world around us, and to address the curiosities of our minds. For those who are in school, beneficial learning is easy to attain on a daily basis, but not all learning is education that we obtain at school. When we put forth the effort to complete the course of our schoolwork, it makes little sense to then give up on learning altogether. School is a training ground for learning, where we acquire the skills that make us good learners. The mere fact that we finish school is no reason to believe that we are finished with learning. It is important to keep our minds open to learning the most valuable lessons of life every day that we live.
Never Know it All
If at any point in life, we believe that we have learned all that we need to know, we are certainly misled. It is a mistake to contemplate an end to our learning when there are always new and valuable things that we can learn to make life better for ourselves and others. Learning is a life-long process that does not end with the closing of a book. Each of us has the opportunity, whether we recognize it or not, to learn something of value every day.
Learning to be Better
There are nearly limitless opportunities to learn about life, whether we learn about hobbies, entertainment, personal interactions with others, or about ourselves. Gaining valuable insight into these aspects of life can frequently require our conscious effort and inquisitiveness, but it is possible everyday to learn something that will benefit our lives and those of others.
Learning for Life
Any knowledge that improves our abilities to abide by our values, or to be of service to others is knowledge worth learning. It can be helpful for our personal growth to consider what we can learn daily about improving our thoughts and actions about ourselves and others. There are many lessons to learn in a variety of aspects of life, but the qualities that we aspire to develop, and the characteristics that we want to share with others are traits that we can develop and learn about through every day of our lives.
The following are a few ideas that can be helpful in learning something new every day:
Tips for Learning Something New Every Day |
Be willing to learn. |
Explore your curiosities. |
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. |
Develop skills in research by using libraries, exploring the Internet, talking to others, and through experimentation and experience. |
Be a good listener in order to learn from others. |
Periodically evaluate what you know, what you don’t, what you’d like to know, and how to learn it. |
Evaluate what you have learned daily , and consider what you can learn on the following day. |
Give yourself time daily for relaxing contemplation, so that you can think about your knowledge without distractions. |
Share your knowledge with others. Sometimes teaching others helps us to learn more than we would by being taught. |
Learn from the mistakes of others. |
Recognize and embrace the life-long nature of learning (whether it is academic education, new knowledge about the world, understanding of how to interact with others, or improving yourself). |
Be interested in others and how you can make a difference in their lives. |
Be aware of your thoughts and actions. Look for ways that you can change them for the better. |
Be humble and willing to change when necessary. |
Try to see mistakes as opportunities for improvement, rather than looking at them merely as failures. |
It is certain beyond doubt that, “You learn something new everyday,” but the value of what you learn is entirely up to you. With the realization that you can use every day to improve yourself and enrich the lives of others, there is good reason to seek out the most worthwhile lessons to learn from daily life. There will always be good and bad events that shape our lives and give us experience, but it is the lessons we learn from them that help us to grow ever stronger and more knowledgeable about ourselves and our abilities to make a difference. The time we share with one another in life is precious and short. May we make the most of every day by learning the lessons of life that make us our best and that give us the ability to ease the burdens of others.
Related Reading:
Self-Discipline: By trying to be better every day, it is always possible to be the best we have ever been.
Being Your Best: Helping Others: The only way to be the best you can be is to be able to help others.
Controlling Thoughts: Mastering our Minds and Actions: We evaluate ourselves based on things we do, finding joy and regret in actions, while scarcely noticing that the driving force behind them is our thoughts.
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