I'm in the process of taking a workshop - advice on relationships, healing old wounds, and being independent vs codependent. Heady topics that are painfully reminding me of how long it's been since I practiced the skill of taking notes.
A searing question is battling for my attention during the lectures. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Actually, the correct syntax would be, "Can you teach new tricks to an old dog?" But old idioms are slow to change, perhaps just like us mature adults.
I grew up thinking the learning process was pretty much completed once you left high school. An occasional news story might contain a nugget of knowledge, but other than that, you didn't know what you didn't know, and you didn't know that either.
I once had the pleasure of giving my Dad a second-hand computer. I watched as he placed his arthritic fingers on a keyboard for the first time. He was awkward but receptive. However, during the days that followed he kept calling the mouse, 'the rat' and I realized with a little frustration that we had a long learning curve ahead of us. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough to complete the curve but I truly believe the old dog could have done it with a few more months of breathe in him.
Yahoo states, "Senior dogs are happy to learn, as long as they have a consistent teacher who hands out plenty of treats." I get that, even though this old dog has lost a few brain cells over the years. So, I'll finish my workshop with the hope that a few tricks will lodge in my brain somewhere between the lobes of "I don't know where I parked my car," and "I'm sorry but I can't quite remember your name."
Does this make me an old dog trying to learn new tricks? Woof. Where are my treats?
later...
Between the lines
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