Hello Ivey,
and welcome.
Yours is a very entertaining story, and I've seen it replicated in other domains. Like, people who wait for their first big accident before they realise that maybe getting some advanced riding training is not such a bad idea (don't ask me how I know).
There must be some bypass in our brain that drains away the cumulative experiences of mankind, thus allowing us the pleasure to reinvent the wheel and re-discover the basics, sometimes via painful or embarrassing experiments (or both).
Last but not least: even the longest journey starts with a little step, so don't worry about your numbers.
IPB