I, personally, have only been a Teen Ink member for the past month, and I am a big fan of the forums section. Within the forums section, I have uncovered the lives of many other teens and their issues and struggles. Seeing each one has made my heart ache. Why do teens struggle so much to live a happy life?

The mind is an extremely powerful and complex thing. It can make you talk, walk, play, or even cry. It can also influence how you live your life drastically. When you doubt yourself, or you are afraid to grow, it can stop the growing process entirely, from work ethic to skin quality. 

Though some of you may think that these conditions are sometimes caused by other people or things, you are completely wrong. Everything that falls into this category is only caused by you, and only you. Sure, other people and things may influence you, but in the end, it is you who decides how your life is going to be lived. For example, if you are trying to write a story but can't seem to come up with a decent idea, you begin to think that you have writer's block. Then, in some other cases, you look up symptoms and find that you have some. Ah, well, I guess I have writer's block, you say to yourself. Then, you tell your peers about it and ask them to help you create a plot because you don't think you can do it. Writer's block is not caused by a kind of disease or mental issue. I would say that at least 70% of the people that have writer's block today have it simply because they think they do. Once the mind believes it can't do something, it blocks that entire area off, disabling your ability to use your skills properly. Remember that you are your mind.

In other cases, such as bipolar, the same goes. In case you don't know, bipolar is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. I met someone that said that they had bipolar. I asked them why they thought that, and they said it was because he watched a TV series about a boy with it, and he thought he was similar to him. Then he looked up symptoms and found that he had a lot of them. He started to panic, and now he is certain he has bipolar. Ever since he has researched the topic (and started to panic), his symptoms are getting worse. Why do you think that is? What would have happened had he not believed he had bipolar?

All that I am saying is to believe in yourself and trust your judgment, and things will work out better for you. I'm not saying I'm perfect. We're human, we all make mistakes. That's just how the game of life works. But don't tell yourself you are going to lose, otherwise it is more likely to happen. 

As an anonymous person once said, "A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings."