Learning Through Lived Experience

In the earlier parts of my life, there was always a yearning to have a mentor or teacher. I was one of those kids that was very observant and inquisitive about how things worked. Whenever I seen family members working on something, I would hone in and meticulously observe the fine details of deconstructing and putting things back together. I find myself still doing that as an adult. What I’ve learned is that the smaller details played a major role in why things operate smoothly. Not to take away from the bigger details because that is also important. However, I've always found myself more intrigued by the smaller details.

There was this one time when my dad and I were working on my first car. It was a 1998 Isuzu Trooper. The hinge on the driver side door was out of alignment. Each time I hooped in to close the door, I had to lift it up from the inside and hurry to close it shut. It was a pain in the ass and I wanted to eliminate the problem for good. Initially, I reach out to mechanic shops to check how much it would cost to get it fixed. But, there weren’t many mechanics interested in wanted to fix it because it was a older SUV and they were no longer being manufactured.

I gave up on looking for a mechanic and decided to replace the hinges myself. I told myself, “how hard can it be.” I ended up finding some used hinges on eBay for a decent price. Once I received them in the mail, I asked my dad if he could give me a hand. He agreed and we started the same day. Not having a clue how to do, we were determined to get the job done.

Here is were i thought it was going to be a easy task. My dad and I started by taking one hinge off at a time and replacing it with the ones I purchased. It unfortunately did not work that way. There were wiring along with a bar in the middle that needed to be removed so the door can be realigned the right way. That door kicked both of our asses and there were moments of frustration between the both of us. We spent a good part of the first day trying to attach the bolts to the frame but it kept being off. We kept working at it until sunset. At that point we were fighting the cool country temperatures so we put it down until the next day.

The next day came and we had hoped we were going to get further along. My dad and I were still struggling to get the door on. Then out of the blue, one of my eldest brothers and cousin showed up to help us. They brought a battery powered impact wrench. That extra man power helped us out tremendously and the job was done in no time. Even though my dad and I still believed we could have gotten done without the help. My dad and I both had a “we will get it done” type of personality.

I learned a valuable lesson about that experience. One, my dad and I were resilient and we were not going to give up until we got the job done. Two, we weren’t reliant on a mechanic, which would have probably cost me more then the physical labor both my dad and I put in. Three, that was a timeless moment that I will always remember. Last but not least, help came in the most unexpected way. Even if I felt like we could have gotten it done without help.

Now I could go on and say that both my dad and I were very stubborn and could have asked for help. Maybe then we would have gotten it done a lot sooner. But unfortunately, life didn’t work that way during that experience. However, that was not the only time were life taught me through experiences. I have learned that the best experience always come from lived experience. Writing this article in itself is lived experience. Ten years ago I would have never thought I would be a writing, author, and poet. Ten years ago I was working as a rigger at a local shipyard. Before that I was ringing up groceries, collecting carts, and stocking produce at Food Lion. None the less, those phases in life helped me to gather experience. Experience that helped shape me into the man I am today.

I recently did a video on my YouTube Channel titled Your Lived Experience Prepared You For Your Life’s Purpose where I explained in details what I'm referring to in this article. When you get a chance check out the video and don’t forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Your support is much appreci-loved.

In that YouTube video, I break down the intricate details of someone learning through lived experience. How some people would have wanted to learn from the people around them. But they had to adopt other ways of learning outside of someone sitting with them and actually showing them how its done. I feel a lot of people can relate. It reminds me of the character Toph from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Her character utilized the element of earth. What was also unique about her was the fact that she was blind and had a heightened sense of her environment. Often time, she was overlooked and her parents babied her. She would have to sneak out to practice and even got into fights. She ultimately ended up teaching Aang. But it didn’t come without a fight first. I would also recommend watching that series if your into anime.

There were times where I've given up on projects and other time where I kept going until completions. I’ve even contemplated giving up on writing on this platform and start my own. I actually started my own website where my writing lives other then on here. The name of my website is www.elyoshuahtheprophet.com. I'll still utilize this platform to simply gain more experience and connect with like minded writers. If something were to ever happen to the platform, you know where to find me in conjunction with the links provided at the end of this article.

The main point of this article was to expound on my own experience and how I learned through actually living the experience myself. Even when it didn’t come without hardship and at times frustration. The story of my dad and I replacing my car hinges was just one of many experiences were I lived in the moment but gained a lot of experience. I also encourage you to share your experience in the comment section of this article. We are starting to see more and more how that lived experience helped usher us into our purpose. Even if we didn’t know initially what it looks like. We know now and we utilize those lived experiences to give wisdom and knowledge to other along their life path and journey.

The world around us is changing each day. The experience we have gathered over the years will soon, if not already, be of good use. Especially writers because the decline we see with our youth literacy rate will open door for new and innovative ways of teaching, giving guidance and sharing wisdom. Our lived experience already gives us a leg up because we know what it feels like to do it on our own. Now it time to share that experience with others who need it moving forward.