Experience is a grand teacher, perhaps the best.

It’s all well and good to sit in a class room and listen to a speaker or read through a text book for all the important bits of interesting information, but in the long run, (and trust me, I’ve had a very long run) experience is the best teacher.

Before experience all you have is a concept. (Like the Big Bang Theory – I LEA that show.) I may think I’ll react a certain way in a certain circumstance, but until I experience said circumstance, I really don’t know. I only have a concept, an idea, or a theory. It’s only when the ‘circumstance’ actually happens that I really get to test my concept, idea or theory. Only then do I really know what I would really do, because I did it. Understand?? I certainly hope so. If not, then that’s okay, because that’s the experience you’re having regarding understanding this post…. but I digress.

I may think I’m a good swimmer, but what will I really experience if I fall off a raft while shooting the rapids? Or heaven forbid, off my yacht while in the middle of the ocean. I won’t know for sure until it happens. (No, I don’t really have a yacht, remember, this is still a concept.)

Once upon a time, I had a concept of what it would be like to be a published author. In particular, a published indie author. I read and read and read all about authors and the publishing industry and I was sure I knew what I was doing and what to expect. But NO, I was wrong. Not completely wrong, but fairly wrong. It’s been much better and much worse than I expected. That’s the thing about reality, it’s rarely the way we imagine it to be. It was only when I had the experience that I was able to really know how it felt – for me. And only for me. For everyone else, the experience is different.

And that’s another blessing. No matter how many times we hear about how it is for someone else, no matter how many times we image how it will be for ourselves, only the experience will provide the proof.

So I say, God Bless the Experience. It’s the only way to live. And may I suggest that you go out and have a few of your own, experiences that is.

Have fun and Enjoy Always, T