Michael Lomonaco | + Follow Poet |
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The Truth About Independence

Since childhood, I had a strong passion for earning my independence. I always had to obey my parents’ rules. If I didn’t follow my parents’ instructions, I would be punished. Every time I complained about the way I was disciplined, my parents as well as other authority figures told me that “life is not fair.” As a child, I didn’t understand what that phrase meant. I was a happy kid who enjoyed this period in my life that is considered a “time of innocence.” During childhood, I thought that becoming an adult would be absolutely amazing; I would only have to abide by one person’s rules: my own. I could go to bed at any time of the night. I would never be punished for a rule that I thought was unfair. I could practically do whatever I wanted without suffering from any consequences. When I evolved into a legal adult, age eighteen, I realized that an individual can’t earn independence without responsibility. When I entered the “real world,” I was not ready to handle the responsibilities that are required to seek independence. The truth is that I wasn’t disciplined anymore for not obeying by my parent’s rules; however, the penalty for breaking the law was a lot more harsh than disobeying laws as a child or teenager. I realized that surviving in a complex world was going to be a rigorous challenge for me. Even though human beings are imperfect, people still expect perfection when it is impossible for people to be perfect. I didn’t know how I was going to survive as an adult when I was always depending on aggression for survival. It took about ten years after becoming an adult to be able to handle the responsible of adulthood, and I had to learn the hard way in order to be a responsibility individual. I was incarcerated in prison when I learned how to survive in this difficult world through righteousness. Being incarcerated in prison is the best circumstance that had ever happened to me in my entire life because I can now say that I am a mature adult in a proud voice without any doubt.

Copyright © Michael Lomonaco | Year Posted 2012

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