Does Maturing Help or Hinder Learning?

If you've found yourself trying to deal with similar questions and insights, please share your reactions with me. After all, many of us are rewired, and we have the time now, if we have the interest, to explore new ways if thinking -- and living, right?
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Just this morning, while chatting at breakfast with my Hubby Buddy, we had some interesting brain insights I've decided to share with you.

We were listening to a marvelous pianist on the radio, amazing us with her/his flowing perfectionism, with seemingly no effort. I was reminded of the miraculous near-perfection of the superb ballerina my friends and I watched yesterday, as she performed the lead in "The Nutcracker."

It occurred to me that in order to become that magically proficient in any art form a person must decide it's worth the huge effort he/she would devote to perfecting their craft. They'll surely be spending most of their waking hours each day learning all the details necessary to become a great artist -- with a whole and happy heart. If they didn't love it fully, they'd get bogged down in the repetitive details, methinks... and lose their passion, and interest.

Another example --
Mike shared how much his re-learning of French, a rekindled passion of his, was affecting him, and why he was willingly devoted to making such an effort each week. He described while in class or studying on his own, the joy of rekindling former brain pathways, and feeing great about his ongoing ability to learn and remember complex connections. As he describes his awakened ability to recall facts and ideas more quickly again, he credits it to exercising his brain more vigorously and increasing it's plasticity. He even refers to this hobby as "My French"!

Wow! Good reasons for keeping that primary tool -- our brain -- in frequent use for healthy productivity.

Then we both realized a True Fact:

Age, or ongoing, developing maturity, as we prefer to call it, contains a true gift we don't often think about. Simply taking this wondrous reality for granted is a pity, so we're hoping to bring it to your full attention!

Although the brain's ongoing years do often take a toll on our ability to instantly recall prior learning and experiences -- a frustrating reality, which can be a forgetful nuisance, there is a very positive side to this stage of brain life.

Remembering to tap into our many years of learning how to think, and practicing the best ways of making ideas connect to help us bring old thoughts to current reality, builds our confidence in our ability to get there, even later in life, when annoying brain lapses happen. How great does it feel when it comes back? What a feeling!

We can take a deep breath, relax and focus on former memories -- often all it takes to come up with the answers. What a great feeling when it all comes rushing back, full of added insights to apply to the current situation! For example, you see new and fresh additions to the old dilemmas, providing you with improved "wholeness of thinking". You realize that in your young days, you were probably too busy and crammed with a rushed agenda to give many matters the consideration and serious time they deserved. Now, finding new and improved solutions to challenges and tricky situations, both familiar and unique, could be a much richer and more satisfying experience.

I'm finding a much better calm and enjoyment as my typical response to these challenges now, rather than the initial fear and panic -- "Oh no! I'm getting old! Another Senior Moment! Am I in the early stages of Alzheimer's?" No kidding! No way!

Yahoo for maturity, I say! How about you?

If you've found yourself trying to deal with similar questions and insights, please share your reactions with me. After all, many of us are rewired, and we have the time now, if we have the interest, to explore new ways if thinking -- and living, right?

Let's enhance one another's enjoyment - and daily experiences!

Over to you all...
Best regards, and a delightful holiday season to each of you!
Eve

Dec. 7, 2015,

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