After moving from the classroom to the library about 30 years ago, I quickly realized that to do what needed to be done in the library, I would have to learn and learn and learn...it was an exciting time that I was privileged to experience...I always dreamed of being a pioneer...and in my own way, I am...my frontier has been the digital and virtual world...and it has been exciting. And my mom cemented my realization of life-long learning when during one of my visits home I was showing her all the stuff I had been doing with Microsoft Powerpoint and she exclaimed, "do you ever stop...you are always learning! I think it was the light-bulb moment for me.
As for the 7.5 Habits of Successful Life-long Learners, #7 Teach /mentor others is absolutely the easiest for me. Showing someone else how to do something and helping them to learn something new is a basic instinct for me...I do not remember ever not wanting to do it...playing school with neighbors and friends was merely the beginning. Runners talk about the endorphins from a good race...I have the same sensation when someone walks away knowing something I helped them achieve...because it usually means I learned it too! I live to learn, I learn to "live."
That being said, the hardest habit for me is #4 Having enough confidence in myself to be an effective, successful learner. I have worked hard to overcome my shortcomings as I see them. I'm not perfect yet, but I have made lots of progress based on practice, practice, practice (I think I hear a groan coming my own children's corner!) and some very fortunate circumstances of chance over the years that have put me in the right place at the right time to have excellent role models and mentors who support(ed) all my efforts. A long time ago, I pledged to pay these opportunities forward when and where I could. I hope I have.
Until later,
Froggy Wart
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