Experience
Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards. (Oscar Wilde, 19th century playwright)
We might wish it weren’t true, but we have to admit that experience is often the best teacher. Unfortunately, as Wilde suggests, we can’t prepare in advance for life’s unexpected events. Even if it’s unpleasant, we can profit from it if we’ll learn the lesson such experiences can teach. Consider what changes it should lead to as you go on.
The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old (Proverbs 20:29).