Experience Is the Best Teacher

The famous Roman general Julius Caesar once wrote, Ut est rerum omnium magister usus—”Experience is the best teacher.”

Isn’t that the truth?

Have you ever done something you immediately wished you hadn’t? One of those moments that seemed like a good idea at the time but ended up teaching you a lesson you never forgot?

I certainly have.

I was about five or six years old when it happened.

My father drove the school bus for Union School back in rural Mississippi. “School bus” might be stretching the definition a bit. Union School only had two classrooms—one for first through sixth grades and another for seventh and eighth grades. Since there wasn’t an actual school bus, Daddy bought an old milk truck and built wooden benches inside so the children could ride to school.

Some of the older boys thought it was much more exciting to ride on the outside of the truck. They would stand on the steps and hold onto the large metal handle beside the door while the truck bounced down the gravel roads.

To my young eyes, it looked like the greatest adventure in the world.

One day, my parents asked my oldest brother, George, to drive to the country store for a few supplies. I went with him. Somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to be like those older boys.

Without saying a word, I slipped outside and grabbed hold of that big handle.

It worked—for a little while.

Then George hit a deep pothole.

I lost my grip.

I fell into another rut, and before anyone could stop, one of the truck’s tires rolled right across my stomach.

You can imagine the panic.

My parents rushed me nearly twenty miles to the nearest hospital. By God’s grace, there were no internal injuries. The only evidence was a large black tire mark stretched across my stomach.

I had escaped with my life.

But something else happened that day.

The tire rolled over more than my body—it rolled over my confidence.

For years afterward, I became afraid of trying anything that seemed risky. I was cautious to a fault. Even simple tasks that involved uncertainty made me nervous. It took me many years to overcome that fear and realize that not every new experience ends in disaster.

Looking back, I understand that experience really is a great teacher. But experience teaches more than just what to do or what not to do. Sometimes it teaches fear. Sometimes it teaches wisdom. The challenge is learning which lessons to keep and which ones to let go.

That little boy hanging onto the side of an old milk truck learned an unforgettable lesson.

The older man writing these words is still learning another one: don’t let yesterday’s fear keep you from today’s possibilities.

How about you?

Has there ever been a moment in your life—something that happened in a matter of seconds—that shaped the way you approached life for years afterward? I’d love to hear your story.