LEARNING SOMETHING NEW


What is your opinion on learning?  Does just reading this title get you excited or make you want to vomit?  Personally, I think it matters what you are learning.  For instance, I remember learning to snow ski as a teenager.  I knew how to water ski, but our youth group was taking a snow skiing trip and I wanted to go so thought it would be fun.  I looked forward to the challenge and though it took me a while to get my “snow-ski-legs” I finally did – and I LOVED it!
I am a lover of science and history.  Biography of a historic figure?  Give it to me.  New discovery in space?  Tell me more!  Anything and everything scientific or historical is good.  I love it all.  (I will now happily accept my nerd awards.  Thank you.)

I LOVE music.  Classical, oldie, country, or pop?  Really doesn’t matter to me.  A new song on the radio with a catchy beat is my kryptonite.   I will listen to it until I know every word and nuance.  (Don’t worry…I stick to the tune only….well usually….dance routines are purely optional.)

But what about experience based learning?
I loved teaching all 10 years I was in the classroom, but my first year there were lots of lessons I wasn’t counting on learning.  I was excited to be in the classroom and put into practice all the “stuff” 4 years of college taught me.  I don’t think I even made it past 1st hour before I realized that experience was gonna teach me a heck of a lot more than any college professor did!  My whole first year of teaching was one learning experience after another.  It was both exciting and exhausting.  I was thankful for all I learned from it, but I was also thankful that I didn’t have to repeat it again!  The rest of my “teaching years” I was able to build on my experience and knowledge.  I think you could even say I achieved a bit of “expert” status by the time I quit to be a stay at home mom.  I had routines and systems that made everything flow smoothly…but all of those systems and processes took years to perfect.
So, now here I am a full time Pumper’s Wife.  New customers.  New Computer systems.  New networks.  New processes.  New EVERYTHING.  And you know what?  It frustrates me because I know nothing but time and experience will get me what I need to know…you can’t speed that up no matter what you do.   
Now here I sit in my quandary…how can I speed up my years of experience without aging myself?  (I used to just think I had to figure out how not to age….now I have to figure out that AND gain experience????  UGH…nothing like an unachievable challenge to get a girl up in the morning!!)
I ask again, how do you approach learning and gaining experience?  (Feel free to post any anti-aging advice as well...)

 'Til we meet again folks!

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