What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?
Learning is a lifelong endeavour. In other words, one is never too old to learn — because there is always more to discover.
Lao Tzu says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” To me, every step matters. Knowledge is a continuous journey, not a destination. When you know better, you do better. Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere.
In my career, I learned from books and from practice, climbing higher on the professional ladder. After retiring from that lifelong career, I continued the journey — learning and applying what I learn every day. I moved from “don’t know” to “know how,” and from “know how” to knowing more and more.
My learning continues in the field — as a volunteer chaplain at a hospital, and as a volunteer life mentor and English teacher at a school. After visiting every patient, I learn; in every interaction with students, I learn.
Patients from different backgrounds carry different health issues and worries. God has trained me for this work by first letting me drink the bitter cup — so that I might be better equipped to bear others’ cups. Through ongoing practice, I grow in my ability to connect with them.
Today’s teenagers are very different from our generation, both in attitude and behaviour. I have to put myself in their shoes to truly connect. Given the generation gap, it is not easy — but I have learned to place empathy before teaching. It is an ongoing process of learning for both of us.
I echo Nelson Mandela’s motto: “I never lose. I either win or learn.”
“Live and learn” is also my motto — what’s yours?
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More to share on living to learn through my poem:
✨ The Pain of Pain ✨
Those who have known pain can feel another’s ache.
The once-poor turned rich know what it is to break.
Once barely saved from death, they loathe self-made despair —
Who drinks the bitter cup, that others’ cups may bear.
If one should know the One — the knower’s pain will cease,
And even bitterness will whisper, peace.💖
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Proverbs 16:3 — “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.”
en yan hua fang 