I’m grateful for the ability to learn new things.

Not everyone can. Time and disease can erode this ability. Neither asks for permission.

Sometimes willingness wanes, which is also tragic. In my humble opinion, as long as you’re willing to learn something new, you’ll never be washed up. Who knows if someone said this before, but I’m saying it today.

Can’t help but think about how refreshing it was to read about the retirement plans of a Los Angeles-area judge.

Lance Ito was thrust into the national spotlight during the O.J. Simpson murder trial in the 1990s. When Ito retired, it was reported his plans didn’t include much outside of learning to play guitar. Other than that, who knows what he’ll do during his retirement years. Who cares? He plans to learn and grow. And even if guitar learnin’ is all he does, that’s a-plenty.

My guess is skills like that take years to master—and practice to maintain. There’s no shortage of songs to learn, either. So guitar learning, learning different styles of play, and song learning will take up plenty of time.

I’m thankful for the ability to learn new things. Yes, people can become experts or masters, but I also think [IMHO] it’s healthy to maintain a sense of wonder and to remember education is an ongoing process—no matter how much a person thinks he or she knows. There’s always something else out there to learn. If you can learn, do learn.