Saying hello to a new year also means saying goodbye and learning from mistakes made in the past. In 2016, I’ll be saying goodbye to my teenage years. Looking back on them makes me realize that although everything feels like the end of the world, it’s really not. You’re not going to die from a paper cut and the first boy you kiss definitely will not be the love of your life. Nonetheless, living everything with the same amount of passion as a Nicholas Sparks book has actually taught me some valuable life lessons.
People preach again and again that life is hard, and it is the challenges that truly build character. As children, our parents want to protect us from all the physical and emotional harms that life inevitably brings, so we spend our early years watching Disney movies and remaining in a blissful ignorance. When you hit your teenage years, your parents start to loosen the reins a little, and we have to begin to face the “evils” we learned about as children. With this influx of challenges, however, also comes determination. Overcoming these challenges teaches us the drive needed to push through hardships in order to achieve success. Experiencing failure is just a stepping-stone in reaching success because failure teaches someone to truly appreciate the feeling of accomplishment when you finally reach your goal.
Another common mistake teenagers make is thinking that their opinion is always the right one. Although we think we know everything, this is absolutely not the case, and most teenagers remain extremely naïve. This naivety often encompasses itself in unrealistic expectations or beliefs and sometimes results in disappointment. However, this disappointment has taught me a thing or two about trust. Most importantly, trust must be earned and being too trusting can result in upsetting consequences. Facing these consequences and dealing with those who betrayed my trust taught me to appreciate those who have my complete trust -- family and close friends. With that being said, although trust is extremely important in all relationships, people do make mistakes. In fact, people make mistakes all the time. If we didn’t make mistakes, then we would not really learn the value in doing the right thing because, inevitably, people in your life will mess up.
Your teenage years also teach you how to forgive. The ability to forgive often plagues many in their teens because most teenagers, including myself, tend to be very self-aware and often overlook the importance of having close friends and family members. This is why it is so important to forgive those deserving because, without them, it would be quite difficult to form a rational thought when everything feels like the breaking point.
Leaving my teenage years also made me realize that the advice my parents gave me was often the correct thing for me to do, even though I did not want to accept it. Realizing the accuracy of their suggestions proved the truth behind the saying, “With age, comes wisdom.”
Now that I will be saying goodbye to my teenage years in the upcoming months, I realize all the lessons I learned through experiences I thought felt like “the end of the world.” Many core life lessons make appearances from age 12 to age 20, but overall, the most important things I think all people need to take away from their teenage years is to slow down, to appreciate the beauty of the world around you and to just breathe because “this too shall pass.”
