A VALUABLE LESSON

 

 

It’s ironic, when I think about it…as the years pass…

the more and more I grow

the more and more I come to realize…

all the things I do not know.

 

My parents and my teachers helped me learn…

They helped my mind to grow…

but even after all their teachings…

there was so much I did not know.

 

As a parent, raising children…

watching their minds and bodies grow…

every day was a constant reminder…

of all the things I did not know.

 

As a teacher for 39 years

trying to help my students grow…

each day in the classroom I came face to face

with all the things I did not know.

 

And now that I am older…

thinking back on all the years I’ve seen accrue…

I’m starting to forget some of the things

I know that I once knew!

 

Which makes me wonder if my life isn’t a balancing act…

a kind of ebb and flow…

between all the things I’ve learned

and all the things I do not know.

 

Perhaps the best that I can hope for

before my life on Earth adjourns…

is to use what I do know wisely…

while retaining a willingness to learn…

 

Which brings me back to irony…

as the older and older I grow…

It’s ironic the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in life…

Is that there’s so much…I do not know.

 

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