LEARN FROM OTHERS
Hello beautiful people. There is a very popular bedtime story about a baby mosquito who was very excited to go out for the first time to feed on people's blood.
In its way, it saw how people moved around while she sang happily in their and they clapped for her. She was able to bite a few people and they kept clapping for her.
When she returned, she went to her mum excitedly to give her the report of the first day of blood sucking.
"Mummy, I had a really great day, Humans are such wonderful people, when I sang to them, they clapped for me and while I was feeding on them, they tried to shake my hands. It was just a beautiful sight to behold."
The mother mosquito shook her head all the while her baby narrated her story. When she was done, the mother told her, "That was not an applause, they were not there to cheer you, those were attempts to kill you, if they clap off your wings, that would be all. Next time, be careful, otherwise, all will be lost."
The next day, unwilling to listen to her mother, the young mosquito went out when it was still day light to sing and feed and unfortunately, it was clapped to death.
What's the difference between the mother and the baby mosquitoes?
EXPERIENCE!
In one of my visits to my mentor; while we were discussing, he called my name in his usual way and said,
"My boy, when you see a wise man, ask him how many books he has read. His answer will let you know the reason you are not wise. "
Experience, they say, is the best teacher, but your own experience is a bad teacher because it gives you a test before teaching you the lessons. But when you learn from other people's experiences, you learn the lessons before you are faced with the tests.
Learning from other people's experiences helps you achieve much more success quicker and with lesser pains. I have never met Dag Heward-Mills in my life, but I have read almost all his books. He's a medical doctor turned preacher. I learnt to write in a simple, easy to understand way, just like him.
I'm certain he doesn't know me, but it does not matter. I am the one who needs him; so, I follow him passionately through his books. I learnt how to pray by watching a group of people praying and emulating their perseverance.
I learnt how to read deep into the night by reading with a classmate I knew was a professional when it comes to reading till day break. I learnt to study the Bible by reading Pastor W.F. Kumuyi's Search the Scriptures and Bible Study Outlines.
I keyed into the prophetic gift of the word of knowledge by watching Pastor E. A. Adeboye manifests the gift. I learnt to respect myself and zipped up till marriage when I read from the Bible how fornication led to the fall of several mighty people of God.
I can also see in my own time how premarital and extramarital sexual activities are messing up people's lives. I learnt that I could be a virgin till marriage, even as a boy, after I read from Bruce & Carol's book where he said, "Our six children were virgins on their wedding days and each of them married a virgin".
When you learn from other people's experiences, you will live a more flourishing life without pain or regrets. Whatever you are not exposed to, you can not model. We grow and develop through positive emulation.
If you refuse to learn from other people's experiences, you may not graduate from the university of hard knocks. Rather, you will become an experience that we will all learn from some day. I hope this helps you to grow better, quicker, with lesser pains or regrets.