Learning - Teaching

I have contemplated my path for a good many years and have focused on it more these last ten only to discover two things of importance - learning-n-teaching. In my life reflection I noticed that these two things seem to dominate my life and the way or path I follow.

I can remember as far back as my early youthful days that I always spent time preparing, i.e. preparing meant learning, prior to taking on something new, i.e. a new discipline of life. When I decided I would become a Marine I know I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to prepare myself for the Marines before I became a Marine. 

As a Marine I noticed at every turn of my short career I found myself thrust into positions where I would "teach" other Marines. I found this to be the same in every aspect of my life before, during and since my time as a Marine. The only teaching position or discipline I was unable to attain was that of the greatest teacher of Marines - Drill Instructor. My only regret is I didn't pursue that more vigorously.  

As a Marine while stationed on Okinawa I was given an opportunity to teach once again in several disciplines of which one major teaching discipline being the martial arts - Isshinryu Karate. I did a great deal of pre-attending discovery and learning before that first experience in the dojo of Henry Sensei - First Sergeant W. D. Henry of Camp Hansen, 3rd FSSG Truck Company. 

Even today I find that most of my diligence and effort seems to be learning and then teaching and that seems dominant in my blogging and writing. I use this medium to pursue knowledge through continued learning then I incorporate and translate it into a form that is "teaching" what I know and understand. I have done this in the marital arts since 1976. 

Learning and teaching seem to be the essence of life for me and I enjoy it immensely. I sometimes think it is just my being opinionated but truly feel it is merely my ineptness in communications, of which I am diligently studying, learning and applying daily, that make me seem opinionated. 

Before my semi-retirement, i.e. my retirement from teaching in a dojo, I would always feel butterflies and anticipation when entering the dojo as I knew it was an opportunity for me to teach and thereby learn from those who attended. 

Everything else in my life revolves around my learning-teaching model and my work in life has excelled for me simply using the preparation, learning and teaching model. 

I was recently told in my job that I would be assisting a project in the capacity of QA testing engineer work. I immediately, almost with out thinking, started to pull together all my data on the testing of software and studied in depth before the first meeting and the result was immediate and gratifying - a very good start.

So, this will help explain why I do what I do and why I do it, what about you?