My youngest son and I spent some time working on my little piece of heaven in the country. Barely civilized, the land, and the work it demands, calm me.  Center me. Each trip is also a learning opportunity, as are most moments in life.

My son did a few things in ways that were different than how I would have.  I liked his way better. Maybe I did things that made him think, “Well, that’s a different way of making it work.”  Who knows.  It doesn’t matter.

This past week has been a constant string of learning opportunities at work and at home; some I have been part of and some I merely witnessed. The opportunities have involved people of all ages. Responses range from “That’s not the way I’ve done it and I don’t need to learn another way,” to “Why should I learn that?” to “I’m too old to learn about that” to “I’m afraid I’ll do it wrong so I’ll wait until I’m older and ready.” Some solutions presented to challenges were over thought, some over designed and only a few qualified for the wisdom of Occam’s Razor.

So, this past week, I’ve heard my dad’s admonition, one of several that I try to remember at all times. “You aren’t gonna learn any younger.”  His simple sentence reminded me to learn anew and to do it now. No matter where you are in life, there are new things to learn. Youth is no excuse for apprehension and age is no excuse for ambivalence. To learn is to grow; to grow is to be alive.