Keeping the mind, active, a way of aging gracefully! Translated…
The Year of Learning in Joy
Recently, as friends asked me out, or when family called on me to hold a family gathering, I’d said, “yes”, but, “Do try to avoid certain time slots, because I have classes to go to.”
As the new year began, several of my newly selected courses were, in session, and, this year is, my happy “learning year”.
Some of the course, I’d needed, to prepare hard for, to teach on the podiums of; even more classes, I could, enjoy, just sitting in the audience, and learn, to absorb the new knowledge, to learn new things. The latter, was without the pressures, it’d become, the top cause of my happiness.
Although my visions is already, blurred, my hair, slowly turned all white, and, I’d passed what Confucius said was the “age of learning”, 15, and, even as 15 was written backwards, I’d, gone way past that too, but I’d find myself, enjoying being a student more and more by the day, unless something MAJOR happens (but it hadn’t occurred yet!), I’d not gone to classes late, not made my exit early, I’d maintained my high spirits and not dozed off in class, and continued, holding that heart that enjoyed learning new things intact.
illustration from the papers online…
Whether it be the literary courses in writing and reading from the foundation, or to the life university of Buddhist Light Mountains, the Yunmen Dance Studios, the Women’s Salvation Foundation, I’d danced with the music, or, listened in the lectures, and, I’d felt, happy being both, I was, filled with, joy, and always left the classes, with a ton of positive energies inside of me.
My children had, flown the nest, and, it’s just my husband and I together now, but, we’d worked in our separate areas of interests, taking the classes, and each night as we returned back home, we’d, shared with one another, the gains of that day. He’d not minded taking the exams, he’d tested into the graduate department of a public university, and, worked on three masters unrelated to his field of study from before. We’d competed and encouraged one another, “work hard, and let’s see who’s year of learning becomes more fruitful!”
Ha! As if, we’d needed to, compete! We’d realized, how much knowledge we’re still thirsting for, and, let’s just, work hard in our separate realms, to learn more as we age, until one day, our lives, come to that halt!
And so, this, is the attitude to keep, as we age, we’d gone through school in our former years, because the demands life made on us, but now, as we get older, we no longer have the pressures to perform well, which is what makes learning fun in the latter stages of our lives, like for this two aging husband and wife team, and, by taking the courses they’re interest in, they’re, keeping their minds active, which can help delay the onset of dementia, and by staying active physically, they’d, less likely, to suffer from the deteriorations of the physical abilities as they grow older too.
Life, the Obstacle Course 