It’s never too late to start
Listed on October 30, 2013 in Blogs!I was driving to work this morning and Radio 4 moved beyond the 9.00am news to ‘Midweek’ with Libby Purves. This programme can be really interesting but I always think it’s a bit lightweight compared to ‘Start the Week’ on Monday. Anyway, the guest list did not inspire continued listening so I switched on to Radio 3 and Rob Cowan. He was reading out some e-mails about people who had started learning to read music and play the piano later on in life. One person was 90 when he started! He was demonstrating the point that it is never too late to start.
At Dillington this is evident all of the time. It is so life-affirming to see people of all ages but especially our older students attending courses which teach and stretch. When talking about their motivation you often hear stories of how they are embarking on something new be it a skill or a new found academic interest. As I have said many times before, to keep on learning is really good for keeping the old brain-box going. Learning has been proven to be the single most important thing in staving off certain forms of cognitive decline and the real killer – depression. The good news is that this needn’t be a lifelong activity as the benefits are almost immediate.
