Bless Her Heart

Sorry to disappoint new graduates, but learning in a lifelong activity…not something you’re already over and done with…even though you did just wear a robe and toss your mortarboard up into the air of an auditorium. 

You may have graduated from high school or college, but you have not graduated life…at least not yet. 

Throughout your entire life, you will be constantly learning…and “adult” learning involves so much more than simply regurgitating information, facts, dates and details on an oral or written exam. 

From now on, you control the learning that you continue to do throughout the remainder of your life. You decide what you want or need to learn about. You have the freedom to decide just how much or how little you want to learn about any given topic. 

And you will learn so much more throughout the remainder of your life if you take time to first learn about the learning process…and the styles of learning that work best for you. 

This will also make learning much more fun. 

(One thing to remember though: This may be true only in your personal life. Don’t risk your professional life. You still need to buy groceries and pay the water bill without calling your parents.) 

Do you really want to learn about growing turnip greens? 

Anyone who ever mastered a particular skill or understood anything as complex as brain surgery or rocket science had to begin with the barebone basics. 

For example, I’ve played piano for 50 years now. I laugh and say that I can play Beethoven or Chopin while making out a grocery list.  

Yet at some point, I spent countless hour sitting on a piano bench at my parents’ house playing “Here We Go, Up a Row to a Birthday Party” and practicing scale after scale after scale. (My poor Dad, I am so sorry.) 

But back to turnip greens… 

Once you’ve been introduced to a particular topic, in this case growing turnip greens, you must decide if you’re curious enough and motivated enough to commit whatever amount of time, money and effort it takes to learn more about growing turnip greens, 

What is the best way for you personally to learn about growing turnip greens? 

Not everyone learns in the same way. 

• Auditory learners learn best by listening to lectures, discussions and so forth. 
• Kinesthetic learners learn best through moving, touching and doing such things as science projects and experiments. 
• Logical learners learn best through logic, systems, and reasons. 
• Social learners learn best through discussing things with a group. 
• Solitary learners learn best by studying or finishing assignments on their own. 
• Verbal learners learn best by reading and writing words. 
• Visual learners learn best by seeing visual aids such as graphs, charts, pictures, diagrams and symbols. 

Yet you shouldn’t limit yourself to only one learning style.  

How much information you will actually remember basically depends on what activities you did while you were learning. 

Have you even tried to grow your own turnip greens yet? 

So far, you’ve probably spent time simply reading and memorizing facts about growing turnip greens. Now you actually get to start planting the turnip greens.  

It’s one thing to simply read a recipe and discuss the ingredients and techniques involved in making that recipe.  

It’s quite another thing to start making a mess in the kitchen.  

How many turnip greens do you want to grow? 

Decide exactly what your goals are. 

Do not set goals that are unrealistic or unattainable. You probably aren’t going to become the world’s greatest producer of turnip greens overnight. 

Establish a realistic timeframe for reaching the goals that you have set. 

Challenge yourself, however. Don’t make the goal too easy.  

Schedule time for learning how to grow turnip greens…not hour upon hour…not day after day after day. Dedicate smaller chunks of time on a more consistent basis. You’re no longer cramming for final exams. 

Now that you have learned how to grow turnip greens, what’s next? 

Once you’ve finally reached that initial goal that you set for yourself, start looking for a similar skill to learn. 

You’ve already grown from being a complete idiot when it came to growing turnip greens to now actually growing enough turnip greens to consider your expanding turnip green business a “side hustle.” 

It shouldn’t be that much harder to now learn how to grow mustard greens. 

Eventually you may find yourself down on your hands and knees, laboring over an ever-expanding backyard garden. Your curiosity about growing turnip greens may become a side hustle that you enjoy. 

Gardening now gives you an extreme sense of accomplishment and joy. Walking into your backyard garden regularly makes you even lose track of time and space. 

But if you’re passionately gardening in this 110-degree Texas heat…. 

Bless Your Heart…