I attended a two-day leadership conference the other day with three colleagues from TEXSAR. At one break, one of them asked what I thought of the conference. I said, “I’m an old dude, so some of the things they say and the stories they share are familiar to me, but it doesn’t hurt to hear them again. There is some good new stuff, too.”

In our conversation, I shared that I can still recall the day that I heard a speaker that motivated me to want to be a public speaker. That was about 40 years ago. I can only imagine the effect that some of the conference speakers were having on attendees at this conference.

It serves us well to hear again the advice, insights and wisdom that improves our lives and the world. It serves us even more if we hear it anew, with the influence of the experiences we have had and the perspectives we have gained since we last heard the information.

Some of the lessons we hear again and again are complicated. Repetition helps us understand the information and apply it to our lives. Some are simple, but difficult to implement; for example, how many times do we need to hear “love thy neighbor” before we make the rule a moment-by-moment guide to our lives?

It pays to listen to life, even to things we have heard over and over again (that includes the oft-repeated stories of seniors!). Wisdom is worth paying attention to. Each time that we pay attention, we are able to better understand and access the knowledge and wisdom that we need to grow and become wiser ourselves.