Whenever I hear the term, “Continuing Education”, it’s usually in reference to the college classes one can sign up for at the local community college. Like, Beginning Portuguese, Learn to Skype!, Scuba Exploration, or Rock Climbing for Starters. Although the idea of scaling a sharp cliff does seem to have some sort of weird attractiveness to it, and I’m sure I would learn something from it, I seem to be on my own path of ‘Continuing Education‘ sans the registration fees or need of a First Aid kit.

I’m hitting the big 3-9 at the end of this month. Which means the big 4-0 is next. But I’m very thankful to a friend who passed on a great philosophy of this milestone to me a few years ago. Her take on it was that she felt like she learned soooooo much in her 30′s, that she was actually excited about her 40′s. Wow… isn’t THAT refreshing?

So, every time I go to the calendar to schedule an activity and see the day getting closer… I’m reminding myself embracing her mindset. After all, she’s right. Think of how much more you know with each passing year.

But it’s such a thin line between being regretful, and being thankful. There’s so many times I find myself saying, “If I could go back and do it all over again…“. (Like how I could just hit the ‘Reset’ button on our Atari when I didn’t like how my Space Invaders game was going.) But I have to stop thinking that way, and instead, be thankful for the wisdom gained from each experience. Maybe I can’t have a ‘re-do’, but I can still apply the learned concepts to other areas in my life. And, more than anything, I can pass on the new knowledge to our children. This is why we become mentors later in life. We think we know it all in our 20′s, right? Chuckle chuckle.

Actually, what I really get a chuckle out of is that so much of what we do as parents is like a ‘re-do’ in life. Things we thought we left far behind us rear back up again as if it grew a new head. Like, our son’s math problems are starting to look like “n = _____”, so now I’m re-facing algebra again. And some things, I just don’t remember at all. I don’t recall ever learning the word, ‘hectare‘ in my math classes before, do you?

Yes, life is sure different when seeing it a second time around, through the eyes of your children. But at least we have our own first run-through to guide us, whether it was successful or not. If we didn’t like how it went for us the first time around, we get to train and inspire our kids to go about these things differently this time. And for all the things we found pleasing, we can amp it up and improve it even more as we get another opportunity at the fun stuff.  And, lest I fail to mention, don’t miss how much we learn from our children.  They have such a way of simplifying, cutting to the chase, and seeing things for what they are.  Often, the life lessons stem from them.

Each day, week, and year are new. We have no idea what we will learn this year, do we? But it’s truly a continuing education. Enjoy it, embrace it, and use it. If not for yourself, then for those around you. Expand, be useful, and be available.