The Arrogance of Youth

When I was younger, well atleast 2-3 years ago, I was a coky little shite when it came to my parents. I never really did listen to them, to be fair I always did hear what they have to say but I always conveniently managed to forget what they had told me 5 minutes after.
I though I knew how the world worked, it was my oyster, I knew I was right. I couldn't have been more wrong. Sure I had a few good ideas, but they were overshadowed by the phenomenal number of stupid things I have done since the 10th grade.
Whenver my parents started giving me advice about schoolwork I always said 'I know yadda yadda yadda'. This progressed to the point where my dad gave me the nickname I.K boy, if you can't get it then I wish ya luck in life and hope you don't drown yourself when you take a bath. Anyway, I digress. I argued a lot with my parents, and then my dad just said 'The arrogance of youth', and I asked him what he meant, even though I had a pretty good idea of what he was going to talk about. He just shook his head and said in a very tired way 'You'll see one day'. And now alomst 4 years on, I finally get what hes was talking about.
In a few months time in september, I will turn twenty. I have reached the point of no return. Till now I have had the excuse of being a teenager, rampant hormones, trying to figure out who one really is and all that rot. And ashamedly, I must admit I was quite good at making up excuses for my many faults and mistakes without a second thought. On the brink of adulthood, I think I was trying to run away from the fact that I am growing up. And now I am really scared, but also a little excited. I have begun to face who I really am, and when I do the same ruthless character examination I have done to many people on myself, I find that I am severely lacking and I don't make the cut. But I am glad that I now am grown up enough to look at my faults and finally be a little courageous, for being brave is to be afraid but still persevere.
When I look back on my life, short as it may be, I find so many things that I would change. But then again, everything is a 100% clear in hindsight. I wish I could go back to those days, when things were much simpler, and when I still had ....... well, lets just leave it at that. The irony is when I was a kid, there was nothing I wished more for than to grow up fast. Oh, the arrogance of youth.