Anonymous - Teen Angst

This week on Writing, Writer, Writest we were supposed to talk about new beginnings. But, before I dive right into the subject, I think we should look at what comes BEFORE the new beginning - the downfall.

Everybody has a time in their lives where they think they’re doing what’s best for them, but they’re really doing quite the opposite. Your decisions are making you happy and ecstatic - you couldn’t see your life going in another direction if you tried with all of your might! But, then? CRASH. A circumstance comes around and ruins your so-called utopia. Your first instinct is to immediately blame somebody else - it’s human nature. You don’t want to believe that you yourself are the cause of the pain you’re feeling. But... really? It’s kinda on you.

That is probably a harsh statement, but hear me out. I’m not trying to be hypocritical by any means. I’m just writing from personal experience and observation. I, recently, have had my utopia crumble in front of my eyes. I blamed it on somebody else. I cried myself to sleep night after night. But I realize now it’s not worth all of that. Sure, it had to happen for me to heal, but come on now! If we, as people, weren’t so far into our own heads, maybe this wouldn’t happen!

The problem with being young is that people thing that you're unqualified to feel things. “Who are you to say these things?”, “You’re a kid.”, “You haven’t experienced life.”, “You haven’t felt love.”, “You haven’t-“ blah blah blah. We may feel our emotions in a different way, sure, but we still feel them. They are real to us, whether they appear to be real to you or not.

Okay. Anyway. Now that I have spent a good part of the essay whining about angsty, negative part of this topic (that I really think is necessary to really get to the point), here we go with the positive part. “Press Start to Continue.” Now that I have made it through “the downfall,” I am well on my way to my new start. I was just sitting around, playing my guitar, wallowing in self-pity, and DMing a friend when it hit me. “What the hell am I doing?” Why should one person have the power to alter my life? They shouldn’t.

So, this is where my new start began. I looked at life a different way. I have been happier and an all-around better person. It is definitely apparent in my everyday life and my music. I see now that I was so far into all of this “stuff” that I was basically neglecting the outside world.

If you don’t take anything else away from this long, teenage-angst essay, I hope you see that no matter what your situation is or was, you can always find a way to start over again. The downfall period may feel like it goes forever, but it really doesn’t! You have people who truly care about you, even if you think there’s no other way. You have the ability to make a new start for yourself - just open your eyes! You really can’t start fresh unless you are wiling to let yourself start fresh.

Let go of all the trash that’s polluting your mind. “Press Start to Continue” into your new beginning.