Learning as a lifestyle

I have a to-do list. Actually, I have a lot of to-do lists, ranging from "Do ASAP" to "Do When You Are Bored" to "Do Because You Should, Come On Now" to "Do Before Dying." The last one is the one I'll focus on today. There is actually a document on my computer titled "To Do Before Dying." In it are places I want to visit, skills and languages I want to learn, experiences I want to have, and challenges I want to face and overcome. This week was a good week for the list, as I was able to cross off two items: make soup (confidently and successfully, without a recipe) and be able to do a pull-up. Items already accomplished include driving a motorcycle and going to Africa.

I started officially keeping the list a few years ago as a result of conversations with a new (now "old") friend. When I graduated from college, the list took on new importance. No one was watching me anymore, checking my assignments and making sure I was learning the things I had signed up to learn. I was, for the first time in 17 years, not a student. At this juncture in my life, I realized something. I could go with my instinct, which told me to shy away from challenges and stay safely within my comfort zone, and arrive at the end of my life some fifty years hence (Lord willing) with basically the same set of skills and knowledge that I have now. Or I could make a commitment now to push myself and be always a student, always learning, always growing. If I learned or tried or accomplished just one thing every year for the rest of my life, I would arrive at the end with some fifty (Lord willing) new and exciting skills and experiences beyond what I have now.

So I'm knitting a sweater, making soup, learning the guitar, and doing pull-ups. I'm planning for the big trans-America train journey someday and looking for opportunities to sharpen my French. I am a student of life, and I will be until the day I die.