Reflective Essay Essay

Reflections of My Life: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Confucius.   My life has been a seemingly continual roller coaster of events, filled with both joy and bittersweet reflections of grief and sadness.   But in turn, these events though painful at times have molded me into the person that I am today, and for that I am grateful.   In this essay I will be reflecting on events that have occurred in my life and how they pertain to certain adult developmental theories that I have been researching.   I will also be looking ahead to goals that I would like to accomplish in the future.
I was born July 24th, 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   I am the older of two daughters born to my parents.   My father for as long as I can remember has had addiction problems, these addictions dictated my life as a child.   When I was 2 years old my father was caught dealing drugs and as a result spent almost two years in a federal prison.   Those years where very traumatic for me, I loved my father very much and suddenly he was gone.   I believe that a lot of my emotional insecurities developed during that time.   My sister was born during his incarceration.   Not only was my daddy gone, but now my mom was busy with a new baby and an increasingly difficult child.   She did her best, trying to keep a sense of normality in our house.   When my father finally came home, life was still far from perfect.   My parents put all of their energy into trying to save their marriage.   Unfortunately my father was still an addict, and I was exposed to a lot of things that a person, let alone a child, should not be exposed to.   My father was addicted to cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and pornography.   I cannot say that being exposed to one of these affected me any more or less than another.   I eventually struggled with almost all of...