Lesson Learned or Lesson Lived

Lesson Learned or Lesson Lived

Krystal Johnson, Staff Writer

A friend recently came to me with devastating news about a hectic and complicated situation that he had gotten himself into, not trying to blah on about his personal life but in so many little words he had gotten himself into a sticky situation that he will now have to live with for the rest of his life. Instantly my heart broke, he was my pre school sweet heart and my previous ex boyfriend. As much as I would have like to join the “John Turker must die” committee he is still a human and as these un-prefect breathing creatures we tend to make mistakes.

As he went on for hours talking about the situation I couldn’t help myself, maybe the selfishness of me or maybe just the writer inside of me made me think of his story as a moral. Being young adults we tend to play, hop over, run through and bathe in fire. How many times is it ever enough of what we are doing until we truly learn our lesson. For example I spoke with a few of my close friends (not disclosing my ex’ situation) but giving my close friends a senrio and asking their views. If we have un protected sex with a partner and have concerns and decide to get tested for HIV aren’t those normally the three longest months of our lives? You wait and wait until you medically are approved to take the test but within that time your promising and swearing that you will never make this mistake again but would you?

Of course reading this many of us are going to say we wont but realistically we will. After taking that test and hopefully being cleared as okay we tend to even forget that doctors visit, we go on with our lives and those three months we spent waiting and going crazy has just been swept under the carpet because we’ve just dodged a bullet. However, thinking on the lines of someone who is not so lucky what do you do? I am in no way trying to justify myself as the Mother Teresa but the universe does have a funny way of trying to prevent and help us stay out of certain situations, it is only up to us if we choose to leave the fire or consume it..

Now my friend on the other hand was not so lucky. His situation does not involve HIV, AIDS or any sexual transmitted disease but he is in a situation like many that could have been avoided. Seeking the advice from a wiser, older individual (aka mom) I notice that the older generation is not in agreement to how our generation handles hardship and problems in life. My mother’s first response immediately was that it is his fault and this is now something he will have to live and face. I couldn’t understand how she could be so against and cold about the situation having experienced it herself when she was younger. However after listening to her reasoning I came to conclusion about the importance and the meaning behind every single thing that we do as humans. Will the mistake you make be something that you can get pass or will it be something that is forever stuck with you, will it be a lesson learned or a lesson lived?