Show one's life and increased meaning to life Such feelings rekindle the zesty outlook of early adulthood when the world seems ours far the taking One depressed patient of my wife's felt that the best years of her life were over and her future was all downhill As part of her treatment my w ife got her to take a secretarial course Within weeks the woman became a demon typist —and had a bright new view of herself and of middle age Why does learning have this effect? Mostly because we experience growth when we learn All during childhood we feel ourselves growing mentally and emotionally But once we leave school we lose most of our opportunities for new educational experiences Adult learning restores them Moreover it lets us develop parts of ourselves we never had time to explore Physical benefits Finally there's evidence that lifelong learning has physical benefits As we age our reaction time slows down but studies show that older people who are highly motivated and actively practice a skill — such as learning something they are interested in— are less vulnerable: that is the slowing of their reaction time is partly reversed More broadly researchers at Duke University have found that the more active aging people are mentally the better their physical condition remains What is true of the elderly is undoubt- cdly true of the middle-age- d though there's little research on the matter But I'm convinced Recently I bought a new program for my computer Working my way through the training lessons — it'sacomplicated program with much to be mastered — turned on my juices For weeks I had far more energy than normal never got sleepy alter lunch and had to drag myself away at dinnertime nt word-processi- What to learn where to learn it— and how Choose anything that interests you or that would be useful inyourlife It can be as brief asacourse in given at your local high school in four ev enings — or as prolonged as a college program pursued after work that takes ears and prepares you for a new' proself-hypno- fession Truly you can learn anywhere and in many ways You can study some topics on your own via magazine articles and books You can leam about others hobbies in particular from neighbors or triends Some such as understanding our own marital problems may best be tackled with a self-hel- p or therapy group for still others you'd do best to attend seminars or courses given at communi-- t centers or colleges A good first step: Ask a librarian how to l ind lists of opportunities for "continu-m- g education" learning" or "lifelong learning" Once you locate Mich information you are on your way to tvcoming a learning addict And a more alive youthful person IS “self-direct- PARADE MMUZWE lUUr 20 19M HUS 17 |