Mistakes Were Made, Learning Was Gained
November 18, 2019 Uncategorized 1 comment lsturtevant20
Being the youngest child has its perks. Especially when I was young it was much easier to watch my older brother make mistakes while I was a spectator on the sidelines. More recently I have learned what not to do from my sister, who didn’t learn from my brother the first time. These mistakes that they have made have cleared the minefield that leads to my success and has made it much easier to progress through life without the countless roadblocks that come with mistakes and failure.
My brother has continuously made some dumb mistakes, but not all of his mistakes can be blamed on his actions alone. I can’t really blame him though. Being the oldest and having to be a good role model and excel in the eyes of our parents must put a lot of pressure on a kid, and you’re bound to make mistakes with that much pressure lurking over you. Once he had graduated high school he had all this pressure on him to decide what he wanted to do with his life and nervously decided to follow a career path he did not want to do because of pressure from our parents. Years later it came out that my brother was not interested in this career and unfortunately dropped out of his major for another. This experience showed me that you should never make a decision without asking yourself what you want.
My sister, on the other hand, was babied for a long time. It stuck with her and left her without any preparation for the real world and its responsibilities. She consistently ignored requests from me or our parents and continued to act like there were no restrictions on her freedom. My sister’s happy-go-lucky nature soon came to an abrupt end after she was cited publicly by state troopers regarding underage drinking at a party. Not only did this teach me to respect my parents and friends’ wishes to gain their trust, but also to be wary when it comes to hanging out with friends outside of school. A lot can go wrong with a simple text message to the wrong person, asked to bring an illegal device to what was a laid back hangout.
These experiences have given me the blueprint to a successful teenage life and because of their sacrifices, it has given me a slew of information and guides to follow in order to dodge precarious scenarios that may end with consequential action. They have laid the groundwork for me and for that I am forever grateful. To them, it may seem like I am “just a lucky spoiled kid” or “Not as good as I make it seem” but I believe these are last-ditch attempts to justify my avoidance of mistakes my siblings have made before me. These mistakes my siblings made have allowed me to look past a lot of hardship and I believe that these actions they’ve done have made a changing impact on my character and have shaped who I am today, and who I plan to be in the future.
Photo by hedera.baltica on Foter.com / CC BY-SA
1 Comment
I really enjoyed reading your post, I can really relate to being the youngest, although I may not have any older siblings, but I’m still a very young senior so there are some expectations to live up to or to not have to worry about at all. Just like everyone I still have some growing up to do and some things to learn. I can’t say I’ve made many major decisions that have affected me in a big way or anything that’s truly caused me problems from my decisions, but I will say the take away of making mistakes or decisions whether good or bad is that you can always learn from them. While being at a young age I can also, relate to being treated like a baby or “pampered” if you will. Sometimes I won’t be able to do certain things, or go certain places. We’re at a interesting time in our lives and we are becoming adults. Regardless of having someone who’s a close friend, or sibling, you can learn something from someone else’s mistakes or just yours. Although we may seem like a “spoiled lucky kid” sometimes since we are still considered “kids” it really isn’t the luckiest…