I've always been a lifelong learner but then I was raised by a family of life long learners. Both of my parents did not graduate from high school (let alone college) but my mother was a book keeper/payroll accountant and my dad did many jobs, from working making belt buckles during the 40's to repairing cars and selling automobile parts. My dad taught me to love reading the news in print (whether through the daily paper or magazines) and my mom loved to read books of any kind, fiction or non-fiction. They both took classes on various topics and would sit around and discuss everything from medicine to politics to religion to science news to entertainment. I was raised to be an active participant, have my own opinon and voice my thoughts freely (which is my nature anyway). Oddly enough I think I've raised 3 children to be the same way. We LOVE NEW THINGS. We also love to learn everything we can get our hands on. My daughter, Amanda, was designing her web page and learning html at the age of 11 (on a computer her grandmother bought and hooked up to the internet). My other daughter Meg was learning how to sign for the deaf at the age of 10. My son Tim is a movie buff and can tell you just about any line in any movie and what character said it, who played the character, if the movie was created from a book, etc. He really should become a movie critic.
Sooo, when I watched the 7 1/2 habits of life long learners I instantly recognized myself. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a "list" maker. I love lists of any kind and they keep me on track. They also show me how much progress I'm making. Most of my lists have to do with "daily goals" but I've also kept a journal over the years with a list of the things that I want to do in my lifetime. So far I've completed about 1/2 of those and the other half can be done during my next 50 or so years. I'm am so totally goal/list oriented that it becomes an annoyance to my family members. Think ahead! Plan, plan, plan! DO IT! GET IT DONE!
I don't think I have any problems with any of the 7 1/2 things but I do know I'm really bad with contracts that I make with myself. I'm a trustworthy person who likes to keep her word, and I do that with everyone else (say what you mean, mean what you say and if you tell someone you'll do something then DO IT!) Unfortunately that doesn't apply to myself when I promise I'll do something just for me. I'm always breaking my word to "myself" because there is always something that needs to be done for someone else or something that comes up and gets in the way of what I've promised to do for myself. However, 6 years ago I told myself that I needed to get back into the workforce in a profession that I could achieve and learn things in. That is the one contract that I kept and it has benefited me in so many wonderful ways. I've been fortunate to work at the library where I can read the many books we have there, and where I work with people who constantly challenge me and allow me to explore and be creative in the job that I do. I'm now about to attempt #5 and I'm kind of excited. I want to do a mashup (even my kids don't know what that is so I'm really going to rub it in when I'm successful..HAAAAA). Adios for tonight though.
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