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Friday Thought: Openness to Learning

For learning to occur, we must first be open
to the learning process. That is what a gentlemen
from Calgary, Alberta said in an email to me this
morning. He is absolutely right. We must be open
to the many possibilities that learning may introduce
in our life.

Many of us have been conditioned to think that we
should approach a "learning process," whether it is
a formal educational process, a process to acquire
new interpersonal skills, or a spiritual learning process,
with defined goals and outcomes in mind. Sounds good,
but as we all know, so much more occurs during the
process of learning something new. Often, we learn
many things that contradict our learning goals. In
more than a few cases, my learning has caused me
to move from one set of goals to another. That was
learning at work; that is seeing that I needed to
change directions.

The outcomes of a "truly open" learning process are
uncertain. That is the way they are supposed to be.
Why embark on a learning process if you already
"know" the answer? Some times we worry too much
about "right" and "wrong" answers, and as a result,
we settle for pre-conditioned responses and not "real"
learning.

True learning comes with the awareness that we
are the "learners," and as learners, we must be
open to our experience of life on many levels, not
just intellectually, but also emotionally and I think
spiritually.

Open yourself to the many possibilities of learning
in your day today. After all, it is spring, and "She" is
a wonderful teacher.

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