Thing # 1: Lifelong Learners

I am not sure if all of us have heard of the book titled: All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum? But the simple rules that the author wrote about fifteen years ago still applies to getting through life, dealing with your family, your work, and becoming lifelong learners. These rules are:



1. Share everything.

2. Play fair.

3. Don't hit people.

4. Put things back where you found them.

5. Clean up your own mess.

6. Don't take things that aren't yours.

7. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

8. Wash your hands before you eat.

9. Flush

10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

11. Live a balanced life; learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

12. Take a nap every afternoon.

13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

14. Wonder

15. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

16. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

17. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

18. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.



Becoming a lifelong learner is pretty simple. You just have to make up your mind to do it and just do it! I wish that I could say that this process is relatively free, but if you made the decision to get a higher degree; the tuition can become very expensive. Making the decision to learn something new everyday is free. We never get too old to learn something new and you can "teach an old dog new tricks." I am sure that everyone has their own favorite happy story and horror story about school, dealing with family, and just going through life on a daily basis. Take a risk and make the decision to become a lifelong learner and sit back and enjoy the ride. You will be glad that you did.