Did you learn something today?

I always feel like I have had a successful day when I have learned or done something new. It could be as simple as a new recipe, an historic fact, a revelation about a relationship or a mathematical equation. Whatever it might be, it feels good to stretch the "little grey cells" (as Hercules Poirot would say).

Although I do find that if I do not intentionally plan on learning, doing or reading, then I settle into an existence routine. It is a routine whereby my world doesn't expand. It becomes very self-contained. After all, I am very limited in what I know. It is boring to only have to think of that. So if I don't purposefully challenge myself to explore new ideas I find that I am stagnant- in my thinking, in my doing and even in my speaking.

Ways I try to keep the "little grey cells" healthy:

Read classic literature
Learn a language
Learn a new piece of music
Read about a subject (art, history, sciences, anything in the dewey decimal library system)
Engage in The Great Courses (www.greatcourses.com); www.coursera.org, or Great Decision class (www.fpa.org/great_decisions)

What about you? Do you have an existence-routine kind of life? How can you rise above that? Do you want to? What types of learning do you like? Is it learning a new skill or physical activity? Do you like classroom lecture? Are you a visual, auditory, read-write or kinesthetic learner?

Have you learned something new today?