Just a brief thought before I go to sleep

I read about a strange fact about the human mind - something that differentiates it from the body. By the time most people reach thirty, their body is as good as it will ever be; In fact, many people's bodies begin to deteriorate by that time. (Okay, that's basically saying that when we hit 30, we cease to grow and begin to die.)

But the mind is different. It doesn’t stop growing - at least, not if we continue to use it. There’s no fixed limit to how much the mind can learn and develop.

Books are powerful tools for keeping the mind sharp, but there’s another way to learn - one that’s just as essential and often more demanding: through attention and reflection.

It's noticing patterns (whatever they may be), adjusting your responses, and growing from what life throws at you. It's something the great thinkers of the past did supremely well - not just absorbing knowledge, but grappling deeply with hard, uncomfortable truths and complex ideas. (Though I’ll admit, that still feels like a bit of a stretch for me.)

Or, it could be as simple as being awake to life’s lessons, whether they come from failures at work, a difficult conversation, observing how others behave, or even from moments in our most mundane, everyday life.