Learning Life Lessons

I've heard it said so many times that living on Earth is like going to school and, depending upon your spiritual beliefs, it actually is going to school: The school of life and learning.

There are a lot of similarities between living our lives and going to school:

- At school we have lots of teachers who help us learn different things, same as in life. The slight difference in life is we perhaps need to concentrate a bit more on what the person is trying to teach us (in school it's clear that in a history lesson we're being taught history!)

- In school we make friends who help support us and with whom we can have fun during playtime. In life, we also have friends who support us and with whom we have fun. Additionally though, our friends can also be our teachers and vice versa

- We go through school learning different and more complex things with each year we get older - infants, juniors, seniors, university students. At each new school we get taught many similar things but at a deeper level. Like life. Do you often find that you are facing similar lessons but from a deeper perspective?

- When we get to the age of around 14/15 we choose the subjects to we will be studying for the next couple of years that will impact the next levels of learning, and ultimately the career we choose. Once we've taken those options it's not actually that easy to switch. This is the same but different in life. We choose the things we need to learn and which interest us, but we always have a choice whether to stick with them or not. If we don't like the current subject we can change. However, chopping and changing is also not great as it can mean we don't learn things properly

- Whilst we're at school, many children/students can't wait to leave so that they can do what they want, so in many ways, formal lessons stop once a person leaves the education structure. However, in life, we have no choice but to continue learning - because that's what life's about

- In school we have set times for meals and playtime, in life we can do the same if we choose to

- It's good to take advice whilst at school about which subjects to study, as it is in life. However, the important thing about both is: stick to the things you do well and that you enjoy - there's no point studying woodwork and chemistry if you'd be much better at and enjoy much more art and rural science

So you can see that school and life are the same but different (stupid phrase but it does make illogical sense!)

It's worth taking the time to review your life and the lessons you have learned/areas you are focusing on. Are you enjoying the subjects you are learning or would you be better off changing your options? Are you still playing with kindergarten lessons when really you'd benefit more in seniors? Are you fitting in enough playtime in between lessons?

Remember, some of our best lessons in interacting with others come from playtime rather than formal lessons.