Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I learned something big and useful this week – really useful. After kicking myself for not knowing it already, I grew some humility. Learning comes from unexpected people, times, and places. I resolve to use what energy I have to pay attention for the next thing coming my way.

I learned something this week – something big:

You can type just about anything in the URL field of a browser and go somewhere meaningful

For example,

who was the star of bewitched

took me to a Google search page with the first site displayed being “Bewitched and the Elizabeth Montgomery Web Site.” (“Bewitched” was a 1960s television show in the U.S.)

Another example,

2 + 3 =

took me to a Google calculator page with the answer.There are too many examples to give.

This floored me. I use browsers all day seven days a week and I didn’t know you could do this. It is heart breaking to realize how much time I have wasted by not knowing this. I could have been… And then I could have used the extra time to… And then there is all that other stuff… I have been using this new knowledge all the time since learning it.

I felt so stupid for not knowing this! Deep breath, sigh, wait a moment.

Step one: use this new knowledge to do a better job and save time.

Step two: forgive myself for not knowing it, yet. At least I learned, and at my age learning new things is quite an accomplishment.

Step three: commence the rest of my life.

I learned a big, useful learning from an unexpected source. I don’t even remember what blog I was reading when I learned this. The lesson sticks with me more than the source.

Something else I (re)learned – humility. There is much I don’t know, and not just the latest techno-fad. Basic, fundamental, use-every-five-minutes-of-the-day techniques and tools. Swallow hard here. I will pay attention and I will try to pay attention to everyone I meet. I do not know the source of the next big learning. I don’t know the place, the time, or the person where I will find it.

I will also continue to forgive myself for being human. I have a finite amount of energy. Things will go past me, things that would be good to learn. I won’t catch everything, but that is alright.

Just stay humble, keep noticing, continue to learn, and enjoy each day.