Success and Happiness

Being a teenage girl, my mom and I have fought quite often. When I was a sophomore in high school, we constantly argued about my curfew. I thought that I was mature enough to be staying out with my friends without a set time to be home, but my mother thought otherwise. We screamed and gabbed at each other about it for months. Our feelings were miscommunicated and neither of us was actually listening to the other. In the end, my mother won. It wasn’t until now that I realize her reasoning behind her strict curfew. I didn’t have the best of friends, and she was concerned about my decision making. Instead of screaming at each other, we could have had calm, adult conversations where we establish mutual ground and make sure we both know what the other wants or needs. My senior year of school was a busy one. I was constantly going places with my friends, my school or my family. My parents had decided they were forking over too much money for my entertainment and that I should get a job to pay for all the gas I was using. I certainly did not like that idea. It was my senior year! I wanted to enjoy it hassle free. This argument looked quite similar to the curfew battle. It went on forever, and it was nothing but screaming and not listening. I have valid reasons why I didn’t want, and couldn’t really even handle a job my senior year. My parents had their concerns as well. Like to curfew issue, we should have all clearly stated our feelings and calmly worked together to come up with a viable solution. Instead, they won. Again. I am much more mature now then I was in high school, but I still have issues with my emotions. I don’t know of any specific occurrences, but I do know it happens a lot. I feel frustrated or upset, and I immediately bottle those feelings up and pretend they aren’t there. Then when I begin to start explaining them, they’re hard to address. I should focus my attention to those emotions immediately when I feel them. I should ask