Learning from a Teacher and Students at the same time.

Exponential Living

An instructor was standing in front of me and I was surrounded by other students as well.  I'm required to complete a large number of "continuing education" hours in order to have my professional license renewed every two years.  There is always a lot to learn and in this class' particular case I was able to hit a double.

I use that baseball term because it is so instructive as to the receipt of benefits.  I like to say, "When you go up to bat, why hit a single when you can hit a double?  Whenever you can put forth the same or similar effort and get twice the benefit it's a great opportunity!  And, when it's a surprise extra benefit; all the better.  I realized this was one of those times during a break.

I was sitting next to my friends Linda and Todd when Todd asked Linda how things were going for her husband.

"We don't really worry about anything except for now." She replied.  "We can't go back and change the past.  His cancer is here.  We don't know what the future holds because we don't know how the disease will progress, so we simply worry about each day as it comes and live it to its fullest!"

Her words alighted on my mind as quickly as they left my ears.  She was describing one of the important lessons life has taught her as a result of her husband's illness.  I was hearing her deliver the same message to me in a different way.

 Life requires all of us to have continuing education.  But, life doesn't require us to learn our lessons in the same way.  Recognizing important lessons, as taught to us by others, is a precious opportunity.  A person who can observe and then apply what she learns from the lives of others is able to live an exponential existence.

All of us can become the sum total of hundreds or thousands of other lives.  To do so only requires us to read, observe or listen to the wisdom learned by other persons and to then incorporate it into our being now.   While we can't live in the past, we can learn and benefit from it right now.  And, while we can't live in the future yet, wisdom applied now will open to a future full of promise.

We all live with the promise of a good single life.  But, why live a single when you can harvest the wisdom of a double, triple or thousands?  Life requires continual learning, but it allows and delivers the wonder of exponential lives learned.