Do you ever feel like you should know something, but are still learning it?
Do you ever feel like sometimes people YOUNGER than you are teaching you things, that you hoped you would know already? Sometime that can be a hard pill to swallow.
Our society praise knowledge and being smarter, faster and better than someone “behind” you. It is the race to get ahead, to win, to be the best, to be the “one”. How misleading and poisonous this can be for us. It shuts down the learning process and introduces pride and judgment for where are you at in your “process”.
The people I respect and learn from to most are “gray hairs” who say they are learning from me! I respect them because they are incredibly talented, wise and experienced people who certainly don’t need to be learning from me; I am honored to be in their presence. The amazing thing is they hold the truth that they are never done learning and can always learn from others, no matter what age. What a humble and wise perspective.
Learning is not a linear process, it is a circular process. You learn from me; I learn from you.
My 5 year old teaches me and I teach her. I may be teaching her skills, manners, safety and awareness, but she is teaching me curiosity, play, creativity, etc. I think younger people REMIND us of things we knew or share a perspective we cannot see anymore because we are past it. For example, I LOVE hearing from people without kids how they think that kids should act. They have a non-worn-out filter/standard that I love to be reminded of. It isn’t that they are experts on child rearing, they just have a perspective I can’t have anymore because now I have kids, so I lost that ability to think/look at life from that perspective. I need those people to help me be reminded, see and learn from that angle.
Take another angle. How many people are learning from kids about computers, websites, social networking, etc. There are many example of this. As we are young we respect and look up to our teachers (parents, seniors, etc.) to learn from them. As we grow older, in wisdom, we stay open to learning from all of those around us. Each person has something to contribute and when you start viewing the world and the people in it, as unique individuals with each one having something valuable to share/offer, when you are open to learning, you ultimately grow yourself. Let go of the need to be right or be the expert and open yourself up to learn from someone else today.
