Thought of the Day: There are three kinds of men…

“There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading, the few who learn by observation, and the rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers

Some thoughts arrive softly. This one does not. Will Rogers walked straight up to every human being on earth, slapped them with a warm smile, and said I know exactly which category you belong to. And the uncomfortable part is that he is probably right.

Most of us like to imagine we are the first group. The noble readers. The people who absorb wisdom from books, stories, mentors, or even a well timed quote on a poster. That is who we aspire to be. Someone who hears a warning and thinks thank you, that is perfectly clear, I will adjust accordingly.

But then life starts happening in real time.

And suddenly you find yourself staring down a choice that looks suspiciously like a mistake, and even though someone has already told you exactly how this will end, you think maybe it will be different for me. Spoiler. It is not different. It never was. But you tell yourself it might be. That tiny sliver of optimism is how the population of electric fence testers renews itself generation after generation.

I have been in all three categories. Sometimes in the same week. There are moments when I learn from reading like a normal, functioning adult. And then there are moments when I learn by watching someone else do something disastrous and filing the whole thing under absolutely not. But then there are the moments when the universe says don’t touch that, and something in my brain responds with let’s see.

Those are the stories you remember. Maybe not proudly. But clearly.

The beauty of this quote, though, is that it isn’t really an insult. It is a mirror. It tells us that learning is messy. Growth is clumsy. Wisdom is something we collect through trial, error, and the occasional poor decision made with confidence.

Every hard earned lesson softens us. It gives us empathy. It gives us humor. It gives us the ability to look at someone younger, standing in front of the same metaphorical electric fence, and say hey, you really don’t need to do that. And deep down we already know they probably will. Because that is how humans work and how humans learn.

Maybe the invitation in this thought is not to avoid every bad decision. That is impossible. Maybe the invitation is simply to pay attention. To listen when life whispers instead of waiting until it shouts. To recognize patterns earlier. To accept wisdom sooner. To touch the fence a little less often each year.

And maybe, just maybe, to laugh at ourselves a little more. Because at some point we all learn the hard way.

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