"Don't let your past dictate who you are,
but let it be a positive part of who you become."
I've fucked up a lot in my life. More than I'd like to admit. I've made bad decisions, which resulted in terrible outcomes. I've hurt those closest to me as well as pushed some of the greatest people out of my life. I've done the things parents warned kids not to do, and then some.
It's only natural for us as human beings to mess up and make a lot of mistakes. It's how we handle the situations after the decisions have been made which really say who we are as people. The only way to ever learn in this harsh world is to experience. You can read a million textbooks and study for hours, but the best method to fully understanding something is to experience is first hand.
When I was in high school, going away to college was never really an option, well I never thought it was, since no one in my family had done it and I just always expected myself to go to school locally to save money. But as the end of my high school career came closer, I had found myself beginning to rebel more and more from my mom and family, and going away to school was the best option for me at the time.
I went away to school upstate where I studied magazine journalism. The experience of living on my own, and being so far away from the home was an experience that I can not explain. What I learned in that year of my life will be in my back pocket forever. Due to financial issues, I was not able to afford going away to school for long, so I continued my education locally, which I found offered the same quality of learning. I really don't think a young adult can be in touch with who they are on the inside until they leave their home and do it on there own. Whether its going away to college, studying abroad, or moving out with friends somewhere other than home, it is the best way for a person to become who they really are meant to be.
I won't get into details of the events that occurred while I was studying upstate... but you can use your imagination.
Pretty much what I'm trying to tell you is that you don't have to let the bad decisions that you have made in your past change who you are today or what you can be tomorrow. Whether it was men, school or even work, I have make poor decisions but never let any of them hold me back from being all that I can be today. I will use my past to make me who I will be tomorrow and the day after. Use your past to make you stronger, to make you who you are, to make you who you want to be.
