[Matt_Arnold]

Your post follows a pattern we hear quite often: "I had a lot of problems I overcame them. I'm proud of that. So we should perpetuate problems, in order to have something to overcome and be proud of."

Imagine we are all carrying a ladder, and eventually we have to climb it. You were forced to immediately lean your ladder against whichever wall happened to be nearby. As a result, you now are trying to justify the value of reaching the top of that particular wall. Your life choices were made when you were not yet ready to make good choices, and to avoid admitting that, you redefine "good" to mean whatever you ended up with.