Five Minute Friday: "Learn"

'Our Mistress of Ceremonies for the Five Minute Friday is Kate over at Heading Home.  Hope you link up with us and join the fun.

GO! 

"Ancora Imparo." (Yet I am learning)

I read this Michelangelo quote in the Father Tim novel Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon.  Father Tim Cavanaugh was learning a new skill to make a unique Christmas present for his wife.

Am I teachable?  Am I using my head for something other than a hat rack?  Am I learning evermore so that I may give unique gifts into people's lives? As I grow older, I struggle against the tendency to become curmudgeonly, what we call "An Old Far" in the South.  Curmudgeons don't learn, and they generally don't teach either; they point.  They point at what others should do, but they don't.  They point out minor flaws or discrepancies, while giving themselves the grace to act a fool.  They point out what's wrong, but never raise a finger to help fix it.  They also point always to the past; never growing, never learning, never looking ahead to possible joys.  Their brains shrivel in the perpetual state of "We never did it that way before."

No, this is not for me.  I like to learn new things, or how to do old things in a new way.  Life's just more fun that way.

STOP!