At a certain age, it is easy to throw it into cruise control and take our hands off the wheel. We feel we’ve conquered enough and want to sail through the rest of our years. But where does this lead? What is the benefit of never being curious enough to learn or try something new? If we aren’t continually evolving into new versions of ourselves, we may get left behind.

The Brain Is A Muscle

No, not really. The brain is an organ. But we should want to expand our brains like we grow our muscles. And as our muscles wither from non-use, our brains aren’t as sharp without the same use. Even though brain cells are not muscle fibers, your brain cells operate under the same general principle: Use it, or lose it. If a brain cell isn’t used, it loses function.

As you age, consider starting a hobby, a new sport, learning a new skill, volunteering, or mentoring to keep your mind sharp. The more of your senses you use in learning, the more your brain will be involved in retaining the memory.

There is evidence that suggests that curiosity may actually play a critical role in maintaining cognitive functioning, well-being, and physical health in older adults.

Being A Beginner Is Fun

Are you afraid of being a beginner? Could it be because you feel you always have to be the best or have knowledge of a thing to do it? And to make sure that others don’t see you fail, you won’t even try. You’d rather sit out learning a new thing instead of being seen as “less than”.

If this IS you, try to rephrase it. Look at being a beginner as a freeing experience. As a beginner, there is no spotlight on you to perform. You get a pass to suck. There are no expectations of you. You can enjoy this thing while you are learning.

Does that feel better to you?

Life Is Long

Life is too long to stop learning in our midlife. Changes in our life and culture will never be frozen. The days will pass, the years will slide by, and the world will change. And when the world changes, we need to change. If we didn’t change, we’d still ride horses to the grocery store. We’d put a candle in the back of our television sets as they did on The Flintstones.

Like I said in the open, if we aren’t willing to get curious or be a beginner at new things as we go through our midlife, we’ll get left behind and on a faster and faster scale as the world seems to change daily.

You’ll Be Hip

Being an old dog willing to learn new tricks will make you hip to the youngsters. I am jazzed every time I see someone older than me embracing new technology. Because I know that if they can do it, so can I.

I challenge you to find something you can be a beginner in and have fun tackling it your way. And when you have mastered that thing, choose another, and then another, and so on. Being curious and willing to be a beginner will keep you much younger than your years and will help to keep you independent well into your later years.