I don’t think I could ever really have a midlife ‘crisis’ – because a crisis implies you don’t know what to do. When I don’t know what to do, I have always found a way to find out whether that’s about something related to health, money, or anything that effects my career or relationships.

Why? Because many years ago, I decided that I am here in life to be a life-long learner. I’ve seen too many people who stop learning and that’s when I see crisis happening.

Benefits of Life-Long Learning

There are so many benefits of being continually open to learn –

• A mind that is active is less inclined to memory loss or to diseases which slow down the memory process.

While studying adult learning, I came across lots of studies that proved that those who kept their minds active reaped many rewards. It’s a way of continually connecting with people who are different and who have different ideas and opinions. Sometimes people in midlife get stuck in a rut and surround themselves with people just like themselves.

If every organization you belong to has people who think just like you, re-think this! The Midlife Transition becomes more difficult when you can only see one perspective. Changing our thinking can be challenging unless we are continually practicing that by exposing ourselves to new people and new ideas. It’s not only helpful to keep learning, it’s also a lot of fun.

• Lifelong learning keeps you in touch with the world.

Now, I’m not someone who reads the newspaper or watches the news. I haven’t for quite some time now, because I don’t want to flood my mind with negative thoughts. But, books and movies and even some classes that I’ve taken have opened me to worlds beyond my own and keep me in touch with what is REALLY happening in the world, not just what the media wants to sensationalize.

Travel has also been a way of opening myself to other ideas and cultures. There are many organizations that specialize in tours that include learning. It’s also a way of having fun. (There’s a theme developing here!)

• Learning feels good. It’s FUN!

There, I said it. One of the reasons I believe that people stop learning, is that they equate learning with their schooling experiences. Many of us who are in midlife, went through a school system that was more rote memorization than discovery. Fortunately, things are changing. But, I find that many people in midlife have a sour taste in their mind and mouth about learning. It wasn’t something that gave them pleasure in the past.

I do content that when we use the Montessori approach as Midlife adults, (and by that I mean, learning things we are INTERESTED in,) we’ll find that nothing is difficult to learn when it is related to something we are passionate about – at any age.

• It’s a way to Accentuate the Positive

When you focus on learning something you love, when you let yourself spend time reading about new ideas and people,when you take time to develop a hobby, you take your mind off the things that once seemed like challenges or problems. What we focus on, increases. I like to focus on the things that bring more JOY rather than on the things that aren’t working.

Learning is a life-long endeavor. Midlife is a perfect time to finally study the things you always wanted to but never let yourself.

Do you know what those things are? Are you CLEAR on what you love and what you want out of the rest of your life? I would like to offer a support system to help you have more Fun in Midlife. In fact, I’m all about creating a new Midlife paradigm. When you subscribe to my free Reinvent Midlife newsletter, you’ll receive instant access to a special report called, “7 Secrets for Reinventing Midlife from the Inside-Out”. Get it now at http://www.reinventmidlife.com Become a life-long learner NOW.

Dr. Toni LaMotta, the Midlife Mentor, best-selling author of “What You REALLY Want, Wants You” and motivational keynote speaker who supports people and organizations in reinventing themselves in Midlife.

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