Through life, I had made some mistake. Mistakes don't define you, and it's important to remember that, especially when things get rough.

 Through your entire life, there are going to be ups and downs. Good days and bad ones, happy moments and sad moments. You make mistakes, and that's just how it goes. But you can either choose to learn from those mistakes, or brush it off and pay no attention to it. However, does that really seem like the right thing to do? Think about it. In certain circumstances it may seem better to ignore what you’ve done wrong and move on, but you will never grow. I’ve made lots of mistakes that changed me for the better, and some for the worst. But through it all, I allowed those mistakes to mature me and learned how to prosper regardless.

However, there is this one mistake that has really affected me and made me into the person I am right now. That was when I decided that I just didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything, or anyone, or where my life was headed. I never used to be like that, I morphed into that person over time. People would always tell me that I cared too much about everything and turned small things into a really big deal. I thought about it a lot, and realized that they were right; I stressed out about everything and made mountains out of molehills. So I thought not caring about anything at all would help my issue.  I used to love going to school, hanging out with my friends, always managed to get my homework done, and I always tried to be a good person. My teachers would pull me aside and tell me about how good I was doing. My parents would tell me they’re proud of me because of how well things were going. I did everything in my power to assure myself that things would stay that way because I didn’t want to change. Never once did I want to stop being the person I was.
Sadly, summer came and that all changed. Making bad choices became a part of my daily routine. I was doing things that I knew I shouldn’t be doing, getting 1-2 hours of sleep a night because I was too busy ruining myself than actually doing good. Everything was fine in my eyes because I figured it’s my life and I can do what I want, regardless of what others say. All the friends I made at the time were bad influences, and it took me months to realize that. Things worsened as the days went on, and summer eventually ended, but my mindset remained the exact same.
Every single mistake I made the previous summer followed me into this school year. Instead of being the happy person I was, things were absolutely miserable, but I was good at hiding it. Daily, I continued to make poor choices when I was bored, not care about my grades, or anyone truthfully. My sleeping schedule was messed up because I was so used to going to bed at three in the morning. That affected my attitude and grades, and even relationships. People would leave me and tell me they want nothing to do with me due to choices I’ve made or my attitude towards them and life itself. Personally, I feel like that helped me realize how screwed up I was. I had to stand back and look back at everyone in my life and see how I was impacting them. My friends were worried about me and decided they didn’t want to hangout with me because they don’t want to get in trouble. I never did chores around the house because I didn’t want to, which meant my mom and dad who worked 9 hours had to come home and clean up while I was sleeping. My teachers work hard to try and make students successful, and I don’t even do what they tell me to and what’s assigned. All the mistakes I made affected me physically and mentally, but it also ruined the people I genuinely care about.
I’m still trying to better myself 9 months later. There's a long way to go, but things are getting better, slowly but surely. I continue to try my absolute hardest to be happy.  Mistakes aren’t really a bad thing if they make you stronger. Screwing up is a part of life, but it’s important to remember that your mistakes don’t define you; it’s how you choose manage them that does.