At exactly nine oclock Monday morning the doors to my library opened. Id arrived a few minutes early and several people had already gathered to wait expectantly for the opening as though it was a special sale at Macys. One woman, dressed for summer in shorts and sandals, had a little boy and a little older girl with her, all three of them had books in hand. Two men were having a discussion of baseball books -- and were in deeply committed to their own favorites. An older woman with a heavy cloth shopping bag full of books took the time to talk very seriously with a developmentally delayed young man who was excitedly hopping from one foot to the other. Textbook in hand, a woman with a local nursing program logo across her backpack was the first to rush through the door. I was there simply returning a book Id enjoyed reading as I watched everyone pass through the library doors. Something that Ive come to realized about the successful people I know is that they value learning. Some read books, paper or electronic, and gain very specific knowledge. I imagined the nurse wanting to know how to turn a patient as comfortably as possible, see diagram C (or more likely a You Tube video). Some, while listening to CDs of Robert Kiyosaki, contemplate how to implement the financial strategies that he teaches. Others are great TED talk viewers who search for knowledge from vastly different sources, simply for the joy of it. Open Learning is making knowledge available to all that before was just available to the few. Some people may never crack a book, but will always ask questions, observe, and watch what others are doing to succeed. The most successful people I know, whether financially, emotionally or socially, find their universe (and for some its a very narrow one) infinitely interesting and worthy of study. What they study shapes how they move toward success. The knowledge that they glean, creates and reinforces the values that they demonstrate. A friend of mine has a favorite saying, stolen from an old western -- bad companions bring bad luck. We all know that learning and study can be subverted to create chaos and mayhem. One only has to watch the news of the day to see it. On Monday though, as I watched and listened to the people anxious to enter my public library, I optimistically chose to believe in good luck -- the power of knowledge gained for good, put to use to make those entering the doors, smarter, and better, happier and kinder. It was a good way to start the week. How did your week start?
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:42:36 +0000
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