介绍:
My whole life I excelled in school, I love to learn, and I had big plans. So when I got a full scholarship to the university of my choice at age 18, I had everything I could possibly want. Right?
Wrong.
From the outside, things were perfect for me. But I was suffering inside with a lot of personal crap that I won&`&t get into. The point of the story is that I started doing drugs. Hard. I lost everything and was homeless by age 20. I was 23 when I got sober for the last time. I spent a few months in my parents house hiding in a dark room thinking I had no future and no reason to live. My life was over. I had thrown all my dreams in the trash. I was about to be 24 and I had no degree, no friends, no job, nothing.
I had decided that being sober wasn&`&t such a good idea after all but then I fell madly in love and decided to get pregnant because I thought it would give me something to live for. So I wasted a few more years of my life with a man who was all wrong for me. Age 30, I am divorced with a five year old daughter and back to living with my parents. What a waste of life, right?
Wrong!
I worked my ass off the last 4 years to save up money to pay off the student debt I owed and I had to write letters and essays and get character references and pretty much just beg for a second chance to attend a good university despite the fact that I flunked out. Last year, they finally let me back in. I&`&m only two semesters away from graduating. Better late than never.
I made a lot (a whole lot) of mistakes in my life. I took a lot of wrong turns and I "wasted" a lot of time. But guess how many regrets I have... None. Every mistake I made turned me into who I am now. Every wrong turn led me to where I am now. And I like the person I am now and I like the path I am on now.
You are only 24 and maybe you are ready to change your life. So do it. You have so much time. Think about what you did during this time that you say was "wasted" and what you think you should have been doing instead. Do you still want to do whatever it is that you didn&`&t do before? It&`&s not too late. It&`&s never too late. Do it now.
I am shocked to see so many of you young people giving up so fast. That is what it feels like you&`&re doing. Giving up. It&`&s easy to say, "I messed up, I wasted my time, I can&`&t fix it." That&`&s how I felt at your age too. I had a good reason. Maybe you have a good reason too. It would have been so much easier for me to say "forget about this; I&`&m a drug addict so why should I even try to be anything else?" But that wasn&`&t in the cards for me. Instead, I became a mom at 24. What did I know about being a mother? Nothing. I was a child myself. And my 30 yr old husband was even more of a child. So I grew the hell up and fast. I thought about everything I wanted to do and I made a plan on how to do it.
One of the first things I did was make a list of &`&30 things to do before turning 30.&`& I managed to do just over half of the things on my list before turning 30 last month. One of the things on my list was to finish my bachelors degree which I sadly didn&`&t finish but I will finish it before the year ends so I&`&m counting it as one of my great achievements.
I also did some cool stuff like grow out my hair and donate it to make a wig for a child with cancer (this took me 5 years to get my hair to the ideal length):
There were some more things like quitting smoking and staying sober and helping out someone in need. But the best thing that ever came out of me was something not even on my list and it happened when I was 24 but has been the biggest motivator in my life to this day:
My daughter is my rock. She keeps me sober (6 years now) and she keeps me looking forward. And I think that is the best advice really. Don&`&t think about the time you wasted or the things you should have done. Think about all the time you have and what things you want to do.
I&`&m going to say this again because I think it deserves being repeated: make a list. Write stuff down. Take notes. Where do you want to be in 5 years? What steps do you need to take to get there? Write down the steps. And then start working on them. Write the letters, make the phone calls, go to places, do whatever you have to do to get the ball rolling. Things take time to do. But if you just sit there thinking about missed opportunities then one day you&`&ll wake up 30 standing in the same spot and still regretting all the things you didn&`&t do.
Stop regretting. Whatever you did in the past cannot be undone. Did I mention I was arrested and charged with 4 felonies? I pled guilty to one and with an amazing lawyer, managed to get off with a slap on the wrist and no criminal record. I keep all the documents in a hidden place as a reminder of just how bad my life was.
So how bad is your life? Do you think 24 is too late to turn it around? Are you in jail right now? Or are you just holding back because you&`&re scared? Change is scary. It&`&s terrifying. But it&`&s also exhilarating and rewarding. Give it a chance and you might be surprised what you can do. your life is just beginning! You have so much time. Go be amazing!
