PROFITING BY EXPERIENCE


_Experience comes by contact._ There is no way we can have experiences
without passing directly through them. If we are up and doing they come
thick and fast into our lives, some of them weighted down by the
peculiar twists and turns of circumstances, others simple, easily
understood, and still others complicated to the point of not being
understood at all.

People are divided into two classes--_those who profit by experience and
those who do not_. The unfortunate part of it all is that the latter
class is by far the larger of the two.

The man of vigorous purpose, fine constitution, and the full knowledge
of self, sees through an experience as clearly as through a window. The
glass may be foggy, but he knows what lies beyond. Self-reliant and
strong he seeks knowledge through experience, while the weak man, the
unhealthy-minded, the inefficient, stands aside and gives him the right
of way. In later years, however, they bitterly complain that they were
not given the same chance to succeed.

The man of experience having long since passed through the stages of
indecision has, through careful self-analysis learned to bridge
difficulties that would make others tremble with fear. He knows that
every lane has a turning. He may not see it at the moment. He may not
know where it is. _But that doesn't worry him._ He picks up his bundle
and trudges ahead, confident that victory awaits him somewhere along the
line.