09/02/2026
My mom and dad are in their retired 70s, and they are still pushing themselves to learn new things every day. They have joined all kinds of classes, from computer usage to Cantonese opera. It has always amazed me.
At some point after 40, you start telling yourself: you are an adult now. Young people ask for your opinions; older people are less forgiving and expect you to know more. Slowly, your ego grows bigger. You stop wanting to admit that you don’t know.
Brian Cox once said,
“Science is a process of humbling. If you don’t feel comfortable in uncertainty and being on the edge of the known, you’ll never learn.”
We are used to finding security by grabbing hold of something solid—an answer, a role, an identity. Yet it is the constant searching, the unanswered questions, that give us excitement and the motivation to move on.
“Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.”
— Laozi
So have you shaped a new vessel for some yummy new wine yet?
Or are you determined to remain a blunt block for the rest of your life?
