LEARNING LIFTS US UP
- Written by Eric North aka “The Happiness Warrior”
Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around—Marcus Aurelius
I recently read an article by a favorite writer that resonated with me very deeply. It focused on the importance of slowing down to better open our minds for learning, growth, and greater happiness. When I was younger, I would have ignored or misunderstood this advice. In my earlier life I always moved quickly and had to learn many hard lessons! Slowing down to learn new skills and ideas might sound impossible and can even make us feel fearful. When we can give ourselves permission to change our mindset we can begin to learn and grow. Learning causes an expansion in our lives that can make us happier in ways we never dreamed of.
Slowing down allows us to be fully engaged in the present helping to develop a mindset for learning and self-discovery. Learning something new every day is the path to being at peace with who we are and finding more happiness in our lives.
One of the best practices for developing a “learning” mindset is to incorporate a life-affirming morning routine. Developing a healthy morning routine is a great way to begin each new day and feel engaged and receptive for life’s lessons. I recently added a powerful affirmation to my pre-dawn stretching and breathing session. I believe that words have spirit and I our physical selves respond to our positive thoughts and intention:
Every morning, find a quiet time when you’re all alone. Be still, breathe deeply, slowly inhale and exhale fully. Quiet your mind and gently place your hands around your heart. Say something like this softly to your heart, “hello my friend, thank you for giving me life today”.
New ideas require creative energy which gives our selves greater power. When we allow ourselves to understand this, we can gain a better sense of who we are and what we can do to make a greater difference in our lives and those of others. Once we learn this a habit, we can take the steps needed to gain a better understanding of our true selves and realize the joy that comes from learning and mastering something new. This is a subject that always reverberates and helps me to feel more connected with the world around me.
As the Happiness Warrior, I make a conscious effort to learn something new every day. Sometimes I learn something as simple as developing a new habit to save time or make life more efficient and optimal. By opening ourselves to experience and learning, we move on from the past, learn from our mistakes, and concentrate on the present. Knowledge not only keeps us safe but expands our consciousness and experiences. When we concentrate on learning we can see our lives with more compassion for ourselves and others. Learning and reading builds empathy and kindness.
Every day we all have many opportunities to learn something new that can make us both stronger and happier. Learning helps us prepare for life and whatever comes next in our life’s adventures!
Our experience is constantly expanding and a mindset for growth and learning is the key to living happier and more satisfying lives. Our constantly changing world can make us feel confused and upset, but when we focus our mindset on learning and growth, greater happiness comes naturally. Life always gives us clues, and when we listen, the answers are always revealed. Life always shows us the way when we’re ready to move forward.
We stop growing when we stop learning. Most often this is caused when we allow our emotions to take over and rule our thoughts and actions. We let our emotions cloud our thinking, create angry thoughts, pull us apart, and destroy important relationships. Emotions stop us from learning about ourselves and absorbing knowledge from the world around us. When we retreat and go to our safe places, and we cease to learn a grow. Why do we let something that we have the power to control ruin our lives and hold us back from discovering our full potential? When we let our emotions take over, we find ourselves spinning in an endless loop of frustration and hopelessness. Learning something new can make us feel alive again and regain our self-confidence and regain momentum.
When we can learn to control our mind, we can begin to slow down and use our time to become better versions of ourselves. We do this through learning new skills and creating positive experiences that we forgot to make time for in the past. When we learn to control our thoughts, we can be more empathetic and honest with ourselves. When we slow down, we can begin to learn and improve our knowledge and ability to thrive in life. Learning something new makes us stronger and more prepared for life. It also makes us happier, creates greater self-esteem and helps us feel connected to our communities and the world at large.
One thing I wish we could tear down is the misguided notion that we need to be critical of ourselves to be successful, admired, and loved. The pressure to achieve is so strong that we easily overlook the finer details that life’s trying to teach us and feel empty and unfulfilled. The need for happiness and balance in our lives is often marginalized or shamed and all we hear is that we need to “hustle” to find admiration This mindset causes us to fail to achieve our dreams because we cease to be who we are. I was a prime example of a “stressed out high-achiever” in my earlier life and often felt like I was running too fast to the detriment of my mental and physical health.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world—Nelson Mandela
I never really felt like I fit in when I was growing up. I was aware enough to know that it didn’t really matter in the scheme of things. I knew that learning as much as possible was what I needed to do to survive and keep my dreams alive. Learning was both a teacher and an escape from the outside world that made me happy. My books gave me countless examples of courageous people who overcame incredible challenges and personal difficulties. The shared experiences of others help us to increase our critical thinking, empathy, and wisdom.
As we continue to learn throughout our lives, we gain the knowledge to empower us to achieve greater things. There’s an endless amount of information for us to process, and we can learn something new and life-changing every day. Learning and understanding new information expands our world and helps create greater connections with more appreciation and understanding of the world around us.
Learning something new every day can do amazing things for our happiness and success in life:
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Enhances quality of life in every dimension.
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Reduces stress. Knowledge gives us power and confidence.
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Increases self-confidence and deepens our character to make us more inspiring to others.
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Knowledge gives us power and more control over our lives.
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Improves mental health and gives us more purpose and happiness.
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Improves our social activities and makes us more attractive to others.
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Gives us an excuse to spend time alone and recharge.
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Makes life more fun and can make us much happier.
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Increases leadership and sets a standard and example for others.
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Learning helps us reinvent ourselves and adapt to new challenges.
Life is all about choices. By choosing a path focused on learning and self-improvement we can be happier than we ever imagined. The choices we make today shape our lives in the present and future. To live fully in the present is to be aware and happy with the lives we make for ourselves. When we open ourselves up to the joy of learning we can create our best lives.