Go Learn Something

Quite a few years ago, my kids and I were laughing about… God knows what… on the drive to school and I said, “we’re paying your school a bucketload of money, you better be learning something.” Next thing I know, I said it again before sending them off:

“yalla, Go Learn Something.”

And since that day, I said it every day – right after I said goodbye and wished them a great day – even when I’m traveling, they call or text me from the car and this is the last thing I say.

What started out as a limerick of sorts, became the very foundation of our everyday. Since then, I try to make sure we learn something new each day, or else the day is wasted.

Learning is easy when you’re a child, your mind is a tabula rasa (a clean slate), it grasps anything and everything. You fill it with all kinds of information; some relevant for your growth, some not. As you grow older, learning new things becomes a little harder but that’s when the filtration process starts. You start to weed out what is necessary, what is nice to have, what needs to be recycled, and what needs to be removed. However, the value of what we learn is only revealed in what we do with it. Racking up knowledge, diplomas, certifications, etc. is worthless if you’re not giving it back and paying it forward.

I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, so this is not professional advice of any kind; just a few questions to leave you with and perhaps you figure things out for yourselves:

1) Did you learn something new today?

2) Does this new new-found knowledge help you? And others?

The answer does not have to be yes by the way (even God – blessed be his name – rested for one day!), but:

3) If yes, how will you share it with those around you?

I’m an advocate of lifelong learning and think as humans this should be the case for us all.

Well folks, this was my?Verbal Breakdown, till the next one, keep it safe, keep it real, and keep it simple.

Ralph

Disclaimer:?The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not to the author's employer, organization, committee, or other group or individual.