Chapter 2
GET OUT OF THE RUT!
As we have seen, Ulysses found himself bored with his life, even though he had achieved a great deal. He was restless and began looking for new horizons and adventures. In his view he was in a "rut". We too can easily fall into "ruts" which get deeper as we stay in them. Society establishes certain life patterns and it pays to stop and examine just what these are.
It seems that our lives are traditionally divided into three time periods:
the first is education
then getting a job, and raising the family; and finally
retirement
In the first period, the child spends most of the time getting an education, and the youth is learning to become an adult. There is some job experience by having a paper route, or working in the summer, but the focus is on schooling.
In the second period, there is indeed a lot of learning but not education in the sense of formal schooling. The focus is on the job and on raising and supporting the family. There isn't time for much else.
In the third period, there is "retirement." And what does that mean? For some it is a kind of withdrawal from the working/learning environment, but at the same time a freedom to do whatever one chooses to do. This choice often has no relation to the first two periods of formal education and full-time employment.
What is wrong with this system? Well, these are the ruts of life. Sometimes very deep and hard to get out of. To avoid digging the ruts too deep, these three periods must be mixed. Get more work experience while getting an education. During the working period, continue with some formal learning, and for two reasons – cultural enrichment, and also to develop some plans and skills for the retirement period. Then in the retirement period be sure to include continuing education and some form of active work experience. And don't forget the element of play. This belongs in good measure in all three periods!
There was the case of a man who was in a deep rut; work was routine and structured and not inspiring; home wasn’t much better. He got out of the rut by getting sick, and died before his time. Not a good way to go.
The last of these three periods is often a period of withdrawal from the active life and a loss of identity you are not a student, you are not identified with a job or career. Now this doesn’t happen to everybody but it does happen to too many seniors and has an unhappy ending.
Notice how this life pattern looks on a graph (Chart 1, p. 14) indicating the level and pace of learning. The first period shows a very fast rate of learning from the cells of creation to a young adult. It really is an amazing period. In the second period, notice a rather slower rate of growth and learning, and actually a plateau in the latter years of the period. Then for the third period, there is the traditional or mythical decline.
It is in this last period that new ways can be found, to not just prolong life, but to improve it. Notice how long this period can be, compared to the others. If you are 60 then you have 20 years until you are 80. Just think of it. Twenty more years to live. Think of the growth in the first 20; then new growth in the second 20. So it would be a pity to let the third 20 go by without new learning, new growth.
Intermixing these three periods will improve the value of all three. Young people often seek to break the traditional life style of suburbia, by taking a year off to back-pack through Europe, or evem around the world. One of the more promising young people in my father’s company decided to quit and tour Europe. My father said “What’s he doing that for?” and the young man’s answer was “To find myself.” And my father responded with some cynicism, "I didn't know he was lost."
However, this break in the life course was a good example of getting out of the common ruts of life. It broke the pattern of full-time education followed immediately by full-time employment in the work force.
Lifetime Learning Curve
40 60
Which are you? A, or B?
The teaching profession has found a good way to break the routine of the full-time work pattern with the sabbatical year. The man or woman with a young family is under great pressure to earn the necessary money to support the life style and the sabbatial povides this break in the traditional routine. Some companies have a sabbatical plan whereby both employer and employee contribute during the years of earning. This provides a pattern of earning then learning; and should be repeated to spiral to new heights.
Now, consider the third period when both formal education and full time employment are behind you and the future is financially provided for, but the purpose is lacking. Does life lose its meaning? Is it enough to seek warmer climates and spend the days socializing, playing shuffleboard, golf or bingo? For some people the answer is yes. But for the others, life loses its meaning and they are lost.
Ruts are long established habits and are hard to break. But if life is to be lived to the fullest, ruts must be broken! Take courage, assess what is really going on, think it through, and if I necessary, make the break -if you can handle it!