Lifetime Continuous Learning

Facebook is great. You get reacquainted with old friends and old aquaintances. Plus, it’s a sounding board. Especially for politics.

Recently, though, I learned a valuable lesson that I learned years ago. Somehow, I just forgot. That lesson “Nobody, I mean nobody cares what I think. Not anymore than I care about what they think.” So why do we continue pushing our thoughts towards others?

Maybe, we have this deep inner feeling that by shoving our opinions down peoples throats that we will miraculously save them from being wrong. They definitely need to see my way….. or do they? Turns out, they think they’re smarter than me, and they want to miraculously save me from myself because they know that I’m a complete moron.

That’s ok, please try to convince me. I love learning new ideas, but from now on, don’t expect me to cram my ideas down your pie hole. I know better.

Several years ago, when I wanted to be successful, I studied the greats. Norman Vincent Peale. Napoleon Hill. Dale Carnegie. I even listened to the new guys. Anthony Robbins. Brian Tracy. I can honestly say, I think it worked. I think I’m successful. I own two houses out right. I have a Corvette, a Mustang, and a truck, all paid for. I am debt free and I retired at 54 from a second career. I don’t consider myself rich, but I do think I have succeeded in my career goals. I would still like to better my financial position, but who wouldn’t.

One thing I prided myself in was problem solving. I believe that every situation, once over, should be analyzed. What did I do right, what wrong? How will I react next time. I honestly believe this has kept me from harm’s way in both careers.

I always believed in listening to both sides (or more) before making a decision. Of course, in police work, you sometimes have to make a snap judgement and act, even if it turns out wrong. Then you analyze.

Lately, though, I have become an asshole. I became the people I hate. You know, the ones who think they are smarter and better than you. They bore you with facts to show their superiority and so you can see how smart they are. They interrupt when your talking and interject their thoughts because they are obviously more important than yours. Yup, bad news, that’s me. Luckily, I have realized this to some extent and pray that I can learn from this and change back to the old me.

Back to re-learning and continuing on a lifetime of education.