It seems like no matter how hard I try or how much I learn, I often find myself realizing I simply don’t know enough.

Does the time ever come when we can honestly say, “Sure, I know all I need to know.”

It’s not like learning to drive. If we learn how to handle the car and learn the rules of the road we can pass our driver’s test. We learned enough to get our driver’s license. Or, if we study in high school we get to the point where we have learned enough to get a high school diploma.

Easy peasy, right?

It takes a lot of living this thing called life before we realize there is so much we don’t know. I didn’t learn that when I was young.

I remember the time when I was applying for my first job on a newspaper. The editor knew I could write because while I was still in high school I had written a column for the newspaper for two years. But before he would hire me as a full-time employee he said I had to know a lot more. He gave me the thick Associated Press writer’s manual and told me to come back when I knew what was in it.

He thought that would hold me off for a while. He didn’t know how determined I was to be a newspaper writer. I remember how I would hand the manual to a date and tell him to quiz me about anything in it.

Two weeks after the editor had given me a challenge when he gave me the manual I went back to his office. He said he never forgot my attitude or what I said.

I handed the book back to the editor and said, “OK, now I know everything.”

Only a kid can be naive enough to think she knows everything.

But it got me the job. There were a lot of years when I was still young enough to think I knew everything. Such blissful, naive years.

The older I got, the more I realized how much I had still had to learn.

What I can’t get over is that no matter how much I try and how hard I try, I still keep finding I still have a lot to learn.

When, I ask myself, will I ever again think I know everything?

The answer is never.

Now I am chagrined to know I get dumber every year, especially when it comes to technology. I’m talking about technology that every little kid seems to know.

I recently watched a 4-year-old operate his computer with much more savvy than I have, even on my best days.

Worse yet, simple things are now too hard. My husband and I have multiple degrees between the two of us, but neither of us could adjust our bedroom clock to daylight saving time. I’m going to go back to one of those old-fashioned clocks with hands you can set.

But what bothers me most isn’t my lack of technical knowledge or intricate information.

I’m most bothered by the fact that I often forget everyday skills that once served me well. I’m referring to my own personal survival skills.

Those readers that follow my column know one of my strong personal beliefs is to love what you have. If you don’t love what you have, and who you have, you may find yourself mourning what you no longer have.

While I often quote that maxim, I forgot it for a long time — and now I’m paying for it with remorse.

When I came across an old diary, I found days where I was complaining about having to take care of two homes, stock two refrigerators, weed two yards and travel back and forth each week between our two towns.

After two hurricanes destroyed my husband’s home, I am now mourning that loss. I miss the space plus the comforts we had in that home. Most of all, I’m missing my friends from that neighborhood. I found that once you move from an area it’s hard to stay connected to your former neighbors.

Now I realize I should have been thankful for having two homes instead of complaining about it.

Too soon old, too late smart.

When I was in high school and college, it was easy to think I was smart. I did well on tests and found it was easy to get good grades.

What I have since learned is the answers in real life are a lot harder than any academic test.

One thing is certain: We can never stop learning. We need to keep learning new things and keep doing new activities to keep our brain active.

I find that even simple, casual encounters can teach us something. We learn in so many ways. And often I wonder what took me so long to know simple facts.

For example, during my yearly physical my doctor said I my vitamin B12 level is too low and is causing some of my physical complaints. Yet, I’ve been taking a mega dose of B12 every day.

It doesn’t help, the doctor said, unless you take it sublingual or by injection. It needs to get into your bloodstream. I never knew that.

No matter how old we are, we never know enough.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcastnet