Fifth Post in "tuesdays with Morrie" series: Regrets

The third Tuesday Mitch and Morrie got together they talked about regrets:

The Third Tuesday, We Talk About Regrets:
"...the culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die. We're so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks - we're involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don't get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?...You need someone to probe you in that direction. It just won't happen automatically...We all need teachers in our lives."

1. I think that the hardest thing to swallow about this quote is time management: "we're involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going." How do we find the time to stand back and ask if this is what we want? And, if we do find the time to ask that question and discover it's not what we want, then how do we find the time to change it in light of all the stuff that still has to get done?

We still have to have a house over our heads. We still need food on our table. We still need to pay taxes, bills, and medical expenses. Those things don't go away just because we want a change in our lives. So how to we find the time to change in light of all those things that have to get done?

2. The most revolutionary thing about this quote to me is that "we all need teachers in our lives." I used to love university life. I loved challenging my mind by pondering difficult questions. I loved arguing about research findings. I loved learning from my professors and being given tasks that seemed impossible to complete.

Even though I'm not in a university setting anymore, it doesn't mean I don't need a teacher, and I hadn't ever thought about that before. Yes, I seek out knowledge all the time, but I don't have a teacher anymore. Our culture doesn't value teachers into adulthood, and so many of us don't think about needing one. I think I need to find one.

Are you living a life without a teacher? If so, what do you wish a teacher would probe you to do?