A Slow Process

Failure
Hypocrisy
Recovery
Acceptable Social Behavior
Perfectionism
Travel the world (and write about it)
Foreigner
Application (fear of rejection)
Material objects/Self-Obsession vs. Value of Family
Time/Stress Managment

Every child goes through a period where all they feel is intense hatred towards their parents and I can not deny that I was above the influence of such temptation. Those days are filled with screaming "I hate you!" or "Stop controlling my life!", relentless of door slamming/locking, and cold-shoulder treatments so icy one  would think the modern marvel of heating had never come about. But lets face the hard truth, children are idiots. Apparently, or so I've been told, such a period for me began in 8th grade (because it always does take root with middle school drama). There were days on end where I would remain sequestered up in my room coming down only to feed, like an animal in the wild - hiding from the predators relentlessly (i.e. parents) and emerging momentarily to throw morsels of food down to my stomach, small enough to be eaten quickly and without chewing but enough to keep me satisfied until the next "safe" opportunity presented itself. There was no routine family dinner, no sitting at the table discussing the days events. It was several minutes of grunting in between intervals of rapid chewing, then a quick excuse for leaving and back to hiding it was. Once more, I'll say children are not intelligent. I believed my "drama" to be so devastating and monumental that it was beyond repair when in reality it was so trivial that looking back now, I feel shame for the way I acted towards my parents. I can proudly say I no longer behave in that manner and have no intention of ever returning to a time in which I did. One could say I have "rediscovered" the significance of the parent-daughter relationship. I couldn't ask for anything more than the bond I curernlty have with my mother. There are days in which such "trivial drama" does affect me but its a relief knowing that I have someone who is willing to listen and offer advice no matter the situation. I treat my mother as my best friend and I honestly consider her to be one. After everything she has done for me, there is no way I could say otherwise. I guess all it took for this realization was just a matter of growing up and maturing. Patience is truly a virtue in this case.