I've come to understand one thing about life and that's what birthed by topic. No one can confidently say he or she knows it all and doesn't need another person. Whether we like it or not, directly or indirectly, intentional or unintentional, we learn every single day.
We learn from various things and different situations. There is nothing we can't learn from; living or non-living things. I have learnt diligence from the ants because they work while they can, gather as much as they can and when the rain comes, they stay indoor to feed on what they have gathered. In unison, they can carry what is twice their size and weight because they have learned to work together and humans need to learn this. No one is an island and no one can monopolize knowledge because just where your learning peaked that's what someone else already improved on and moved past. We can all do well when we have an open mind to learn and determine what we apply to our lives.
OBSERVATION.
Apart from learning through studies, we can also learn by observation. There are things we pick up by merely observing the situation or the individual. It takes a sensitive mind to observe by merely looking at the situation. Many things pass us by but when we make careful observation then we can make critical thinking as we can figure things out without actually being told.
The mind is powerful and capable of learning if we give ourselves to learning. You can learn by merely observing your environment. There are so many problems in the world and those who solve problems first observe the pattern and then seek ways to improve. Someone once said that if you are the one to observe a particular problem then maybe it is yours to fix. Either you do it or escalate to those who can get it done. There are so many things we can learn and so many problems we can solve by observation.
How do we get to know someone? How do we know so much about someone in a short space of time? We observe their actions and see the pattern. When we observe the behaviour of others it helps us to connect with them and understand them better same with situations. I sure know I have learnt a lot about loyalty from dogs. I am sure you must have seen videos of how dogs tried to save their owners or raise alarms for them to be saved.
I learnt how to be free and not take things to heart from the birds. A friend of mine asked me why I don't get too bothered about things and it took me a while to get there. I just want to let those weight off because if you want to travel fast then you must go light. I want to be in control of my thoughts and actions as much as I can.
I observed the eagles and I learnt about strength. Many people don't understand that the eagle won't move against the current or the waves rather the eagle uses it to propel itself to greater heights. I learnt to use whatever comes my way as a stepping stone to better things. I have trained myself to use whatever comes my way to be strong. I have a long list of happenings in my life that I never knew I could overcome and I am sure I would share them someday and of course, they would come out in my book also. I am excited about it.
Problems will always come and that's the bitter truth. There are some things we cannot escape so rather than pray for lighter burdens we should pray for more strength instead. I've picked up so many lessons in my life by mere observation because I am not much of a talker but when I need to talk you can be sure I won't stop talking. I know I don't have all the time to learn from experience, I have to be observant to learn many things that experience might not teach me or people might not be patient enough it explain to me.
READING.
Of course, we also learn by reading. Someone said that most Africans are so lazy to read and if you want to hide anything just hide it in a book. We learn a lot by reading and we need to take reading seriously. By reading, we are reading years worth of experience that others have gone through and not reading means we are missing out a lot. It starts as simple as reading people's posts on read cash. We need to cultivate that habit so we can master it.
"He is not a fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Anonymous.
We don't have time and we can't hold it still and using time, we should read as much because whatever we have gained would stay with us for as long as we live. Reading is not a function of age either and as long as you have the desire to learn, by all means, read.
TEACHING.
We can also learn by teaching others. Most people try to hoard the things they know and that's sad. The more you keep hoarding the less you know. The trick about teaching is that the more you reach the more your brain process things and the more it processes the more you gain insight into things. I got to know about this truth when I was teaching back then. I would have read and prepared before going to meet my students and while teaching and explaining, things I never thought about would surface and I get to share to angle to it.
When people ask you questions, learn to teach. We learn when people ask us questions too because it shows they want to know and it shows you both can learn together. Teaching is both ways because you are reminding yourself of the things you know while making it stay fresh in your mind while also imparting knowledge to others. When you are asked questions, what you know gets challenged and only by that way can you learn further.
Anyone can teach us and that includes even a baby, nature and even the ants as mentioned earlier.
EXPERIENCE.
We also learn by experience and won't be dwelling too much on this. What we sometimes fail to learn through study and observations or by asking questions then we have to learn by experience. Some experiences can be costly while some can be necessary. There are some lessons we can't help but learn by experience because they cannot be taught. Imagine someone trying to give birth to a baby. I am sure the woman must have been prepped and maybe watched quite a few videos but still, she understands better only when she goes through that process.
It's okay to also make mistakes because you will learn how not to do certain things anymore. Our experience is often our reality and we can't avoid it sometimes. Life has its way of humbling us so we live and learn as we pass through life.
In all that you do, in every way that you can, never stop learning.
Thank you for your time.
Great one sir