So today my car battery died, couldn't even be revived with a jump. I was able to walk to an auto store to get tools and a new battery (damn that mfer was heavier than I expected). I had never had to replace my own car battery before.
I screwed the fastener nuts the wrong way for like 5 minutes, cut my hand, and ultimately accidentally crossed the positive and negative terminals with a wrench that exploded in sparks. I don't even know what stopped me from being electrocuted but I didn't feel a thing.
While I'm happy I was able to take care of it myself and will be able to in the future, I also feel like such a dunce for not knowing wtf I was doing and almost shocking myself
You're not stupid and you shouldn't feel stupid. You succeeded at something that most people wouldn't attempt. That is a skill, and you should feel proud.
I am exceptionally mechanically inclined. I get shit innately; machines and stuff tend to just make sense to me at a glance. But, that's not "being smart" and not being that way isn't "stupid". It's just a weird lucky quirk.
Not trying to toot my own horn, just providing background for the rest of this. I've fixed a lot of stuff for a lot of people, and helped a lot of people figure out how to fix their own stuff.
"Shit, I should be able to fix this" is SO FAR AHEAD of a good deal of the populace. Acknowledging a problem, analyzing that problem, determining that it can be repaired, and deciding that you can repair it yourself are all HUGE STEPS above the baseline. There are a lot of stages in the development of "handiness", and you're well on your way.
I know folks who haven't even internalized "broken things can be fixed". "I need a new TV" because an HDMI cable fell out. "I bought a replacement stand mixer" because one screw was loose. "I had to buy a new car" because the seat adjuster broke. These are ACTUAL STATEMENTS FROM ACTUAL PEOPLE. There's a type of learned helplessness that comes from folks with money who never really faced basic hardships, where the immediate response is "just throw enough money at something to remove the problem". Seat is broken -> car is broken -> buy car. No signal -> TV is broken -> buy TV. Your life, and I assume any other hexbear's, pushed you past this stage.
Then there's "someone else can figure this out". Acknowledging that a problem exists, understanding that other folks know stuff about things, and asking for help. This feels like the general default level of "handiness": I have a problem, someone else can do some magic to make the problem go away. Staying at this level indicates a lack of curiosity, in my opinion.
Next tier, there's "I wonder why this broke/I wonder why this works". Seeing something broken, doing some research, calling in a pro with a specific problem, watching them work to see what they do. This is the difference between "my sink is broken" and "hey the faucet leaks at the valve stem when I run the hot water". It requires putting in actual effort to think and poke.
Up from that is tinkering. "Fuck, it's already broken, what's the worst that could happen". Sometimes you fix things, sometimes you break them more. The willingness and ability to just take shit apart because you can probably put it back together in the same state. Hitting this stage makes you officially stand out from the crowd. This is something weirdos do. "Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" will take you far (this being the mnemonic to remember which way to turn a screw--clockwise tightens, counterclockwise loosens)
Then there's actual repair ability. You're here! Congratulations! You knew your car had a dead battery. You tried a patch (jumping), no luck. You decided you needed a new battery. You successfully installed a new battery, with some complications along the way. The next time will be faster. There was one time my car wouldn't start at work, and I knew the battery was on its last legs, so I called up my partner to snag a battery and deliver it and a socket set. I swapped it in the parking lot while some coworkers--professional engineers--gathered, stared, and actually said "Wait, you know how to change a car battery? You can just swap in a new one?" Even among successful, skilled, smart folks, anything under a car's hood was magic that required a specialist. You are not "stupid" for struggling with it, you're a fucking genius by my standards.
Above that, would be "good at X". I can swap a battery, I can change a tire, I can change a headlight, I can change a fuse, I can change my own oil -> good at cars. I can reformat a computer, I can install an OS, I can install a drive, I can fix the Wi-Fi, I can run Ethernet -> good at computers. This is where other folks see you as a magician. They start coming to you with their problems. From your point of view, you'll still feel "stupid" because you need to look up tutorials for things and do research to figure stuff out. But to the layman, you're a genius who does the impossible.
Lastly, there's the true masters of their craft. When you pull your car into the mechanic's lot, and they just walk out and say "hey, your timing belt's off" before you've even parked. That's years and years and years of navigating the previous stages--and a hell of a lot of confidence.
Please do not feel dumb when fixing something goes poorly. The willingness to make the attempt, and the ability to reflect on it afterward are tremendous skills that deserve cultivation.