I typed into the Google search bar, If you’re not learning…
A few of the suggested results:
… you’re not growing
… you’re not living
… you’re dying
Learning is essential. As someone said, knowledge—and, more specifically, applied knowledge—is power. Dr. Maya Angelou famously said, “Do the best you can. Then, when you know better, do better.”
Learning is a gateway to transformation. But let’s not forget this equally essential truth: so is unlearning.
The late teacher Anthony De Mello made this a point of spiritual significance when he said,
“That’s what learning is all about where spirituality is concerned: unlearning, unlearning almost everything you’ve been taught. A willingness to unlearn, to listen.”
Learning without the counterbalance of unlearning leads to arrogance. If you’re still clutching all the beliefs you developed years ago, still convinced of what you know to be true, you’re dying a slow internal death of misplaced confidence. Every new thing you learn will be built on a shifty foundation.
The alternative to this is humility.
Not only do we not know what we don’t know, we really don’t know what we do know. Living in this posture creates a resilient flexibility that allows us to adapt to every environment and thrive in uncertainty.
The Shift
As Wayne Dyer taught, “Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.”
Learning opens new doors. Unlearning keeps us from locking ourselves inside.
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