My Mother Gave Birth to the Life-Long Learner in Me

My Mother is someone I have looked up to all my life. She has taught me a lot of things and shaped me to be who I am today. I still remember, it was just after my graduation. I had completed my Bachelor's and I was on vacation. She walked up to me one day and suggested we'd go for a walk. As we were walking she asked me about my plans for the future. I told her everything I was planning. The Master's, the career, everything. She was happy & relieved. Then, she went on to say something that stayed with me till now and will forever.

She looked at me with her ever-so-caring gaze and said with a firm voice, "Rebecca, the learning should never stop. The day you stop learning, or you allow a great gap to enter your learning timeline- you will find it extremely difficult to come back to it with the same zest." She told me how my brain would get comfortable not taking the efforts to be curious & learn new things.

And cut to today, when I look back at all these years- I am grateful for that talk. I'm not boasting here but just highlighting of how much continuous learning has played a part in my becoming. It has helped me gain relevant knowledge- not redundant. It has helped me understand that true learning comes from beyond books, it comes from observing everything around you, it comes from people- their experiences, their failures, their resilience.

But over everything, this mission of becoming a Life-Long Learner has taught me one important thing. That is, to Stay Humble. Humble enough to accept the fact that I don't know everything, there's so much to learn. Humble enough to let go off my ego and pre-conceived notions & become a student who like a sponge is ready to absorb knowledge from people who give true value irrespective of their age, experience, etc.

So if you're still reading this, I'd like for you to do the same. Don't ever stop learning. For, learning is to your brain what food is to your body. We need it to nourish ourselves and our lives.