Live and Learn

Several years ago my sister Rosanne said, “I often hear the phrase ‘you live and learn’, well I’m tired of learning, I want to start living!”

We laughed and the memory of the conversation still makes me smile. We were both raising children at the time, and learning all sorts of things we didn’t ever expect to learn. It’s one of those conversations etched in my memory that brings sisters or friends close as they share experiences.

It’s true sometimes we don’t get to choose what we learn. As a caregiver, often I have thought I didn’t sign up for this course, or I don’t want to know about this. There’s a certain amount of responsibility that comes from knowledge, so sometimes I think, ignorance is bliss!

In reality, it’s the unknown which causes fear. Whether it’s about a disease, injury, grief, or even raising children, the more we learn about it, the better we can handle it and usually it then becomes less dreadful. Knowledge gives us opportunity to improve and cope better. Knowledge makes us useful and compassionate. It’s the key to understanding others as well as ourselves. Knowledge makes a difference in how we live.

Because we’re always learning, we change through our experience and knowledge, therefore our relationships change. Some get better, some seem to stagnate and some come to an end. My experience is that every relationship, no matter how long it lasts, serves a purpose. Some teach us to be better than we are. Some show us what we don’t want to be, while others remind us just how blessed we truly are. Some keep pushing us forward helping us become what we are meant to be. Every relationship teaches us something. Don’t regret those that end for they were worth the effort if you grew from the relationship.

So when you get a course you didn’t sign up for or have a relationship that changed or ended, look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow.