Learning or Decaying

There’s a cure for aging no one talks about. It’s called learning. In my mind, as long as you learn something new each day, stretch your personal frontiers and improve the way you think, you cannot grow old. Aging happens to people who lose their lust for getting better and making their lives bigger.

Last year, I had the joy of spending a couple of hours in conversation with Shimon Peres, the former Israeli Prime Minister and Nobel Prize Winner. Nearly 82 at the time, I couldn’t help notice that his eyes actually sparkled as he spoke of his love of books and big ideas. I asked: “Mr. Peres, when do you read?” His reply: “Robin, when don’t I read. I read when I get up in the morning, when I can during the day and every evening. Most of my weekends I’m reading a good book.” He then added with a smile: “If you eat three times a day you’ll be fed. If you read three times a day you’ll be wise.”

Too many people never pick up a book after they’ve finished school. Too many people spend more time watching tv than getting deep inside the mind’s of the greatest people who have walked the planet. Too many people have closed their minds to new insights and powerful thoughts.

I challenge you- this day- to leave the safe harbor of the known and step into the unknown, the place where the highest possibilities of your life live. Learn something new. Read from a new book. Meet a new person or try a new type of food for lunch. We live on SchoolHouse Earth. And a great life comes via great learning.