At my husband’s college graduation, one of the speakers was a fellow graduate in her 60’s. She shared how her friends thought she was crazy for going back to school at that age.
She said, “I could be 60 AND a nurse… or I could be 60 and not a nurse. The choice was simple.”
That stayed with me.
People often say you take knowledge with you into your next life. Or into the afterlife. Is that true? I guess we’ll find out one day. But it’s not such a bad way to live, as if what you learn somehow carries forward. Learning is one of the few things that can’t be taken from you. It doesn’t clutter your shelves. It doesn’t expire. It expands you.
We live. We breathe. We learn.
I don’t make the rules. It just is.
What about the concept of “becoming the expert?” Maybe that sounds daunting. But when I said that, something probably came to your mind. Cooking. Communicating better with relatives. Opening an Etsy shop. Gardening. Writing. Investing. Fitness.
Expert doesn’t have to mean famous. It can mean attentive. Committed. Curious enough to go further than yesterday. And let’s be honest, there’s a bit of personal satisfaction in that as well, isnt’ there?
The beautiful thing about this era is access. There are educational options at nearly every price point and time allocation. Platforms like Coursera offer flexible courses from universities around the world. Resources from Harvard Health Publishing make complex topics approachable and practical. You can become certified in a myriad of fields or you can simply learn for the fun of it.
Or skip the platforms entirely. Get out there and garden and see what turns up. Fix that engine. Design that yard. The sky’s the limit.
We tend to think:
What did my parents do?
What are my friends doing?
What will the neighbors think?
But the competition is…
Always and Only You…
Have you done what satisfies your soul?
Have you leaned into the quiet nudge that says, “Is there more here?”
And learning quite literally reshapes the brain. Neuroscience shows that when we engage in sustained learning, we strengthen synaptic connections between neurons. Repetition and challenge increase myelination, a coating around neural pathways, which helps messages move through the brain more quickly and smoothly. This is neuroplasticity in action: the brain reorganizing itself in response to effort and curiosity. Deep learning builds stronger pathways in your brain, enhancing your ability to think clearly, adapt, and integrate new knowledge. Learning is a win-win situation.
Curiosity keeps the mind elastic. Challenge keeps it alive.
You’re going to be sitting with an over-priced coffee someplace, might as well be building the next super-fine version of yourself, keeping your brain healthy and conversations interesting.
You can be 30 or 60 and unchanged. Or 40 and awesome, starting a new career, or sharing a unique interest with a special friend. But more importantly, you can be becoming something that feels aligned with your soul; the kind of life that makes you think, “Yes… this is what I came here for.”
It’s your life. It’s always and only up to you.
