Learned vs. Learner

Which are you?

1. When I was learned, life was a quiz show. Now that I'm a lerner, life is a Discovery Channel.
2. When I was learned, it was a question of how much I knew. Now that I'm a learner, it's a question of how much I'm being stretched.
3. When I was learned, knowledge was everything. Now that I'm a learner, kindness is everything.
4. When I was learend, knowledge went to my head. Now that I'm a learner, knowledge travels the longest foot in the univers - the foot that separates my head from my heart.
5. When I was learned, I used to point my finger and pontificate. Now that I'm a learner, I slap my forehead all the time.
6. When I was learned, I used to think I was the best. Now that I'm a learner, I do the best I can.
7. When I was learned, I was frightened of new ideas. Now that I'm a learner, I'm even more frightened of old ideas.
8. When I was learned, I looked to the past - to have confirmed the set of beliefs I already had. Now that I'm a learner, I look to the future - to grow, be stretched, and remain open to what I don't know.
9. When I was learned, I knew where I was going. Now that I'm a learner, I don't know where I'm going - but I know whom I'm going with.
10. When I was learned, I loved to talk. Now that I'm a learner, I'm slow to speak and quick to listen.
11. When I was learned, I had something to teach everybody. Now that I'm a learner, everybody has something to teach me.
12. When I was learned, I was impatient with dumb people. Now that I'm a learner, I'm grateful when people are patient enough to dumb down to me and care enough to smarten me up.
13. When I was learned, I thought all knowledge was a form of power. Now that I'm a learner, I suspect much knowledge is a form of weakness.
14. When I was learned, I knew where my nose was headed. Now that I'm a learner, I go where my nose leads me.
15. When I was learned, my life revolved around what other people thought about me. Now that I'm a learner, my life revolves around what I think about myself and what God thinks about me.
16. When I was learned, from the high ground of hindsight I instructed the past on where it went wrong. Now that I'm a learner, the past instructs me about how I can right the future.
17. When I was learned, the power and mystery were in the big words. Now that I'm a learner, the power and mystery are in the small, simple words.
18. When I was learned, I thought the educational system was so much better than the market, the other main channel for the mediation of cultural capital. Now that I'm a learner, I realize just how closed and controlling the knowledge industry can be.
19. When I was learned, I deemed the great threats those made dangerous by strength. Now that I'm a learner, I deem the great threats those made dangerous by weakness.
20. When I was learned, I loved to fill out questionnaires. Now that I'm a learner, questionnaires are an exercise in saying "I dunno," since I keep checking the "don't know" box. ("Don't know" doesn't mean "don't care".)
21. When I was learned, I was always trying to speed things up. Now that I'm a learner, I'm always trying to slow things down, even when I'm speeding up.
22. When I was learned, I bragged about how our knowledge is an ever-deepening ocean. Now that I'm a learner, I shudder at how our wisdom is an ever-shrinking drop.
23. When I was learned, I said, "Take it from me." Now that I'm a learner, I say, "Don't take if from me." I boast no immaculate perceptions. I see through a glass dimly.

(Excerpt from the book "Summond to Lead" by Leonard Sweet)