Life is the greatest teacher

 　　As I look across the horizon at the faces of the young people around me, I weep. A once proud part of the human race, the younger generation has been described as lazy, overemotional, and disrespectful.

　　I myself used to have all three of these characteristics. Not when I was an adventure-seeking, rambunctious¹ toddler, but as an older high school teenager.

　　It was at this stage that my foolish rascal² tendencies were at their highest. I would constantly complain, care for my friends more than my family, and in general would just talk all the time.

　　Then came a moment when I wondered where I would end up. Would I remain on track to becoming a doctor like my parents wanted? Am I just going to keep acting³ like a child for the rest of my life?

　　This moment would serve as the spark that set in motion a process of learning life lesson, molding me into the person you're reading through your computer screen.

　　Since then, I've learned a great many things, but these are the lessons that I wished I'd stumbled upon earlier:

　　1. Everyone's opinion matters only as much as you want them to.

　　There was a time when everyone's opinion was mine as well. Whatever preferences I formerly⁴ held were dashed in the face of another's. This most likely came from a need to please others.

　　Remember that your opinion matters just as much as the next guy's, whether they make more money than you or are less popular than you. Everyone's opinion holds the same weight.

　　2. Your emotions are under your control.

　　Drama, chaos⁵, and emotional unrest — these were what took up most of my time as a teenager. When everyone's obsessed⁶ with what's in and what's not, tempers flare⁷; mine mostly.

　　If I had heard someone said rotten things behind my back, I'd erupt. Go crazy. Looking back on those tantrums now, I'm not too surprised. After all, when you have little self control, anything is possible.

　　The lessons here is, remain aware of how you react.

　　3. Arguments are pointless.

　　Will one small quarrel among friends decide the fate of the entire universe? In my world it felt like it. I just wanted so much to be right and for them so much to be wrong. But in the end, it only resulted in me wasting my time and in the other person storming off in frustration⁸.

　　Is there really a point to arguing? Unless it's absolutely necessary, I've learned that it's better to hold your breath on things you can't control at all.

　　Arguing to change someone's mind is one of them.

　　4. Your parents only want what's best for you.

　　I'm not saying every parent wants what's best for you (there are outliers), but in general, parents do what they do for you in your best interest.

　　My parents used to make me do the dishes, cook dinner, sweep the floors, mow⁹ the lawn, take out the garbage… the list goes on and on. And at every turn, I'd whine¹⁰ and complain. I'd eventually end up doing it.

　　Now, I honestly see the value in having learned those skills. I can efficiently¹¹ cook and clean up after myself — what's not to like?

　　And even though I despised school, I thank them for the education they helped me acquire.

　　5. Societal norms don't mean anything.

　　When you define your life by what society tells you, trust me, life gets much harder to live. You're constantly on the edge thinking to yourself, "Am I behind the times? What's the normal thing to do? Is this acceptable?"

　　For me, this came from not having confidence in myself to be who I am. I believe that when we are children, we already internalize this. We care not for society, but only for expressing ourselves. Then after puberty, we starting caring a bit too much.

　　So much so that we begin to lose ourselves.

　　Let's go back to who we used to be. Carefree of norms and happy for simply living a life our own.

　　6. You aren't stuck in any situation.

　　Whenever I’d lose a friend, get an awful grade, or disappoint my parents, I stewed¹² in my own muck. Waiting for the bad moments to go away seemed to be the only solution. Fortunately, I know now that you don’t have to be stuck in bad situations.

　　You can go out and create better ones.

　　It all depends on perspective; on how you see the situation. Viewing everything as a learning experience makes life more pleasurable, even during the hard times.

　　You aren't stuck. You can move on.

　　7. You learn by doing.

　　This a lesson that I unknowingly followed for quite some time. I used to try everything at least once, just to see how it was like. But as I entered my teen years, I became wary¹³ of trying new things.

　　Skepticism enraptured¹⁴ me, fear grabbed hold of me, and soon… I became gutless.

　　I would count myself out of the race before I was even in it.

　　I think the lesson here is clear.

　　You cannot change what you didn't know back then.

　　Though, it would be nice to transfer wisdom across the time-space continuum. I wish I could tell my younger, immature¹⁵ self all of this.

　　I'd tell him to relax and everything will be fine. All you have to do is believe everything will be okay and believe in your abilities, regardless of any path you choose.

　　Nonetheless, I'm glad to have learned these lessons the way I did. Each experience helped shape me to become a better person. I don't know if any young people are reading this, but if they are, I'd like to say this:

　　"Listen to life and it's experiences. Everyone goes through mostly the same things."

1 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

2 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

7 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。

10 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

11 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

12 stewed   

adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧

参考例句：

• When all birds are shot, the bow will be set aside;when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten -- kick out sb. after his services are no longer needed. 鸟尽弓藏，兔死狗烹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• \"How can we cook in a pan that's stewed your stinking stockings? “染臭袜子的锅，还能煮鸡子吃！还要它？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

14 enraptured   

v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was enraptured that she had smiled at him. 她对他的微笑使他心荡神驰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were enraptured to meet the great singer. 他们和大名鼎鼎的歌手见面，欣喜若狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。