Experience is defined as: "knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone (Dictionary.com)."
Yesterday I met someone who lives in an area that I've never been to. I wasn't even sure where the place was until she explained it in further detail. The closest to her home that I have ever been is to the outside perimeter of her city, so I cannot visualize it. However, just because I have never been there does not mean that it doesn't exist.
So often we hear about how a certain country across the ocean is struggling, or how a certain leader has been making poor decisions (or good ones), and to us it can seem like it is just news. Until you actually have a chance to go out and experience that different lifestyle, culture or situation, it can seem kind of distant and not fully real. Experience, in my knowledge, leads to understanding. We need to be careful not to come to conclusions about a situation before we understand what the people involved are experiencing.
"Never judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes."
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