Was a troubled/bad behaved kid. At age 15 I got into a fight with my teacher (not my fault - he was blaming me for something that I had not done) and beat him to a bloody pulp in the classroom (my fault). Graduated high school with good grades. Got free medical, dental and engineering seats. Joined engineering. Got suspended for badly beating up a senior who attempted to rag me. Failed all my first year classes and dropped out. Moved to the middle east and took up a shitty job to save money for a few years. Then moved to the US to restart bachelors. Studied business, graduated got a decent entry level job and married my American GF. After working for a few years did a MBA at top 15 program. Slogged it out did a lot of internships etc - some free. Moved on to a high flying role after graduating from my MBA in my 30's. Got divorced. Now nearing 40 recently remarried to my 26 year old GF of the last 4 years who is also a heiress and life is great. Money is no longer an issue. In a few years will have enough saved up personally to move into a non-profit role. Hoping to help other kids and young adults like myself become a success and prevent unnecessary suffering. Long journey but its been my journey.
Family wise - it has been a struggle. I never met the ideal of my parents especially my dad. Even today we cannot get along as we view the world differently. My dad has a "love money - use people" kind of mindset - Mine is a "love people - use money" kind of mindset. Obviously it hasn't been easy for him raising a child like me. At this point I only ask him to not judge me and we try and avoid many topics of discussion as we fall on very opposite end of the conservative - liberal spectrum but this is still a challenge. I plan on reading some books and will seek therapy in the future as I try and heal from the relationship with my dad. Has been a real struggle and I hope to be a lot more understanding with my children.
Health wise - I am in the best shape of my life. I was always a strong person but my strength now is even surprising to me. I can easily take someones life with my bare hands. Many years ago alcohol and hard drugs (think extacy, acid, viagra) had taken a toll on my life. Now I only smoke weed, and do psychedelic mushrooms once or twice a year. Just starting to get into meditation.
Happiness - I was always a happy person but the rough road and constant failure can make you a negative person. I am glad to say I have mostly changed my mindset to a positive one. I do get negative thoughts fairly often even today but I am much more aware of them and can ignore them. This will take a lot of time and contineous reinforcement. I have probably read every mindset/self improvement book available but it does take time 4-7 years (my experience) to make a mind state shift. I think the biggest thing for me now is that I do not care what other people think. If I want to do something I will do it. I'm fulfilling my lifes destiny and feel truly blessed that I have another 40-60 years to enjoy this universe.