Matriculation

Lately I've been thinking about what I want to be when I grow up.  A very wise and spiritual man once said "...we are learners, most of the time we are beginners."  Well, its funny but even at my advanced age, I still feel like a beginner in so many ways.  With that in mind, I've recently decided to become an official learner too.  I've started a masters program in counseling.  This is a reboot of an effort I began but abandoned about 30 years ago.  I have to admit I began with a certain trepidation about being able to keep the pace and assimilate all the information after having let so many years pass without exercising the student part of my brain.  However, even though I'm still trying to find a better way to integrate all the reading and paper writing into my daily life, I seem to be doing OK.  I have to admit, it feels good to exercise the ol' neural net again in ways I haven't done for so long.  All of this has made me think again about our capabilities as human beings and the capacities we have for learning and growing.  I think, as a society, we still permit our adults to slip into norms that are more restrictive than needs be.  We are beginning to do better about accepting that major life changes can still occur after 40 but as a whole, we still allow our generations to go into automatic pilot mode somewhere after 30.  The current economic situation as well as the growing flexibility of the educational system which is now creating many ways for adults to begin or continue formal education, is beginning to dismantle that stereotype.  However, it is still easy, as an adult, to let the day to day chores of life and living put us in a place where we forget to be creative in how we imagine our future.  I have always said I hope I never stop learning but I have to admit, I let the pace of my learning slow appreciably.  I'm now hoping that I won't make that mistake again.  I'm finding that the more time I spend as a beginner the less time I have to spend thinking about getting older. So what am I going to be when I grow up?  Apparently that is something that will never have a definite answer and I think I like it that way.................................Later

Perspective

Lately I've been thinking about the benefits of having spent more days on earth than the average guy.  Now I'm going to say something profound, something I'll bet none of you have ever heard.  Ready?  Age brings perspective.  I know...everyone has heard that a thousand times.  (Sorry about the false sense of anticipation.)  I heard it, too, when I was younger so I guess you can say I have always known it.  The difference is now I can actually feel it.  That's a lot better than knowing it.  I really can look back over my life and understand the relative importance of things better than I did in my youthful arrogance.  Things like the purpose of life.  Before I was LDS I had my ideas and some good direction from my up-bringing regarding what life is about and why we are here and since becoming LDS I've known the "Plan" and the logic of it.  However, now I'm beginning to feel it and appreciate the role of ageing and death in it all.  I've never really had much of a problem with death; never really questioned the eternal nature of existence.  Ageing has given me the opportunity to see how many experiences - both good and bad - have played out over time and come to resolution.  And now death feels more like a commencement exercise than ever.  The knowledge of the good that lies beyond is more real to me now.  Mind you, I'm in no hurry to leave.  I love living this earthly life.  I have a wonderful wife, great kids, wonderful grand kids.....and a cruise in a week.  Can't complain about any of that :)  I hope to be here for another 50 years.  Its just easier for me now not to sweat the bad times.  After all, what's the worst that can happen?  We die!  And that death will be just the greatest graduation present we ever get.  Well, I hope this hasn't sounded morbid.  I'm just appreciating every aspect of life more and more.  I wanted to tell all of you that haven't yet been able to reap the benefit of looking back over as many years as I have that it's not so bad...this aging thing.  I'm kind of enjoying it..............................................Later