Grow by experience not years

Once, a massive ship’s engine broke down. Many mechanics tried their level best to revive it but were unsuccessful. As one last attempt, they decided to ask an old mechanic with several years of experience for his opinion. The mechanic saw and felt the parts. He took out his hammer and gently tapped twice, and at once the engine roared back to life.

When the ship owner asked him for the charges, “It would be $20,000,” he responded spontaneously. “Ridiculous,” growled the owner, “the amount for merely tapping twice cannot be this much!” and demanded written details. The mechanic produced the details as demanded: “tapping with a hammer, $2; knowing where and how much to tap, $19998.”

He then explained, “It’s many years of experience and knowledge acquired during work that helped me repair this ship’s engine in minutes. I’m asking for this amount in years, not minutes.”

Whether personal or shared, experience teaches many lessons.

The Mahabharata, an epic based on gods with boons and curses, saw the end of many races. The mature and experienced Gandhari guides her son Duryodhana to make peace with the Pandavas to avoid war before the final battle. This was to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, death, defeat, and the ultimate destruction of Kurus. But Duryodhana, with his rage, temper, and hubris turns blind, pays no heed, and loses his life in the battle. With him came the end of the Kauravas.

On the other hand, when all peacemaking negotiations by the Pandavas failed, Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duties as a warrior on the battlefield. And Arjuna takes to weapons to fight the battle of Dharma.

We grow by experience, not years. Life’s journey is full of bittersweet experiences along the way. Some repeat until we learn a lesson, while others make us mature and wise.

Life is a continuous chain of experiences, both good and bad.

In the end, these experiences become our unique story to share and tell others with pride and a hope that others may learn from our experience. In the words of Elanor Roosevelt, “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”