Experience

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.” -Oscar Wilde

“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” -Tom Bodett

"If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.” -John Maxwell

"All that I know I learned after I was thirty." -Georges Clemenceau

As I was driving home from work yesterday I began thinking about the role of experience. It matters, eh? I think my generation is not accustom to valuing experience. We want things fast. We want success even faster. And I'm not sure we truly value the wisdom of elders.

But over the past few weeks I've seen how important experience is. Your prior experience (failures, learned lessons) are a great guide in future decision making. I'm no where close to "arriving" yet (whatever that means), but I feel over the past few weeks I've been able to make better decisions at work...all gained from doing the same job for over 2 years now. Sometimes it does just take time, eh? The whole investment thing.

I hope this realization doesn't mean I'm growing up though. That would really stink. :-)