Judgement - Or the lack there of.

Judgement: the ability to base current decisions on past experiences in order to come out with a wise outcome.

This is one of my favorite sayings. It rings so true in so many ways. How can we have the judgement to get us through certain situations unless we have some past experience to base our decisions on? As we were toddlers, bobbling around in our youth, we were told that we shouldn't stick our fingers in the light socket. For me, that didn't quite register until I had the audacity to test the theory myself. I waited patiently for the right moment. Watching my surroundings and the authority figures. When the moment was right, I was determined to prove my parents wrong. Determined to prove that I was special and had what it took to buck the system. I was unafraid. I was confident in myself and the skills that I had acquired in my YEARS of living ( I think I was about 8 or 9 at the time). I was a seasoned vet who didn't need PARENTS to tell me how to live. So one day, when they weren't looking, I decided to give the ol' light socket a little friendly poke....nothing. I knew they were just trying to dictate my life. I couldn't quite get my finger in the socket. I pushed harder. Nothing. I remember trying to pinch my skin into some sort of preformed little wedge. That didn't work either. So then I looked on my dad's tool bench. There it was looking right at me all the while. The tool I would need to prove that my parents didn't know crap and that I was truly stronger and wiser than they gave me credit for. It was a little white screwdriver. It had a little clip ( the kind you find on a pen to hook on your pocket) and a little metal magnet at the other end.
This was it. I stepped out of our front door after collecting my little lightning rod. We lived in Hawaii at the time so I just threw on my flip flops and stepped out. There I was...just me, the socket, and the rod. No one was going to TELL me that something was beyond my capacity. I was old and wise. I walked right up to the socket that was right outside the door. Looked the socket straight in its slanted little eye......and in went the driver. That's all I remember. My next memory was running through the yard crying with one flip flop on. It must have knocked me down because my rear end was sore for days. I went into our backyard and climbed my favorite tree. It was my little escape. My little fort where I would often retreat to in times of crisis. My pulse was racing, my mind was foggy, and my fingers were numb. I think I may have even pissed myself just a little bit. I had done it though. It was a small step in my little life, but a huge leap in my path to becoming a man. At least that is what I liked to think. It shocked the holy buh-jesus out of me. I saw spots for days. I was too scared to tell my parents. Besides, I was a man now, making my own decisions. I had the judgement all right.....I never did that again. I have the base of knowledge now to know that that is stupid. You stick your finger in a light socket.....that crap hurts. Go ahead- don't take my word for it. You can't build your own base of knowledge by just listening to my story. You have to get out there and experience it for yourself. I think that if you talked to my parents, they would tell you that this story is just about the way I have lived my entire life. I learn from experience, not by someone TELLING me how things are and should be. It's worked thus far.