There is a saying in Russian that translates into something like ‘live a century, learn a century’. I think there is a similar saying in every possible language on Earth. The one in English is ‘live and learn’. It basically means, we never stop learning. As long as we live, breathe, think, feel or don’t feel we are learning.
We are learning from the world that surrounds us, from our parents and family, from our pets and our little friends. We learn from TV and books, theater and walks in the park. We are learning, full stop.
Then, we are learning from pain, fear, hurt, betrayal, lies and back-stabbings. We are learning from the most cruel creatures in this world – humans. How does it go? There is no animal more cruel than human… Scary stuff. But we learn it to.
Hey, we are learning from our mistakes… or we are not. We open our eyes to endless knowledge and open our minds and souls to limitless possibilities, theories and ideas. We do or we don’t. It is our choice after all.
All of these is not as scary as the opposite of learning. When we stop learning, getting knowledge, absorbing information, developing, evolving we simply stop living. We become a creature. We exist and nothing else. This is really scary notion, I’ve seen it. It’s mind numbing, scream gagging feeling of helplessness, powerlessness in the face of nothingness.
When you meet a person who stopped learning, you will know straight away. They sip energy out of you. They know everything. They are not interested in anything you have to say. They prefer to sit, lie down, stare into TV, not talking, not listening. They are nothing and they prefer their environment like that – nothing, a black hole that complies with their basic needs and leaves them to themselves.
Even Homer Simpson is not a black hole. This is saying something, doesn’t it.
The moral of my story: Never stop learning. Be ware of people who stop learning. Please, avoid them at all costs. Don’t waste your energy on changing them, simply avoid.
Live and learn
Svetlana Tishchenko 