Monday, October 20, 2014

Motivational Monday


I'D LIKE TO BE A BIGGER AND MORE
KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON
10 YEARS FROM NOW THAN I AM TODAY.
I THINK THAT, FOR ALL OF US, AS WE GROW OLDER,
WE MUST DISCIPLINE OURSELVES TO CONTINUE
EXPANDING,
BROADENING,
LEARNING,
KEEPING OUR MINDS ACTIVE AND OPEN.
(Clint Eastwood)

The older we get, the more experience we end up having. But how much of that experience is gained simply by default? By going through our days, by being alive?

I admit a lot of what I've learned lately has come from just...being. Somewhere along the line, I began taking a back seat in my pursuit of knowledge. I started sitting in the last row of one of those log flume rides where you get wet just by being on the ride. 

No more. I'm sitting in the front row, starting today. I'm choosing the seat. not just plopping into it because it's the only one left, because it's the easiest, the safest. I'm making a concentrated effort to learn and to grow, to challenge myself, to keep my mind active and open.

Care to join me? 

23 comments:

  1. YES - choosing the seat instead of having it chosen for you. I like your way of thinking :)

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  2. Hi Madeline,
    What a great idea. I also plop in whatever seat is available. Sitting up front shows interest and commitment. I'm in!

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  3. An active mind lives longer. Good idea! (I mean, look at Eastwood - the dude is in his eighties and still going strong.)

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    1. I think an active mind helps with so many areas of our lives.

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  4. OMG I love this!!! I'm so joining you. I love knowledge so much. And while we probably are capable of learning by default, we'll be so much reacher pursuing it ourselves. GREAT post!!! :D


    S.K. Anthony: Time Management Tips

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  5. I'm there with you. We must keep learning and growing or what's the purpose? Good to remind us.

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  6. You are so right! As one who had accumulated a lot of knowledge/experience by virtue of being old (older!) I find the most fun is choosing something to learn, choosing your experiences. But it takes effort and determination...

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    1. I think it's the choosing that's the key. I wonder why some of us tend to stop doing that as we get older?

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  7. Love the seat analogy. This reminds me how I ALWAYS chose a seat in the back of the room all through school. I wanted to hide back there. I'm trying to get over that impulse to always be as invisible as possible.

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    1. I liked to sit in the back, too, but I usually had to sit in the middle or the front because I couldn't see the board all that well. I still tried to be invisible though. :)

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  8. Those choices and efforts do make an impact of how we view our lives! Great quote.

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  9. You sit in that front row! I'll be watching from the sidelines...at least until the baby gets here. =)

    Unleashing the Dreamworld

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  10. Great dvice - there are always new things to learn and try.

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