Everyone has been late to something. It's not always the end of the world.

I was late to turning in my library books.

That was easy enough for me to solve. I turned them in and promptly paid the fee and even picked up my next book in the same five minutes.

I was late to turning in a scholarship confirmation. Twice.

The first time, it wasn't my fault. My parents had misplaced the information, and none of us realized it was going to be time sensitive. I called my best friend, who helped me figure it out and I got the scholarship. Then, it was my fault. But I got the information in, and no one killed me for it. It doesn't always end up being so easy.

I was late to cashing my first check.

I went and got it, and never turned it in. Then, I got a letter reminding me, which I never responded to. At this point, I'm too scared to do anything about it.

I was late to seeing my favorite band live.

When I mean late, I mean knowing My Chemical Romance was in Atlanta but thinking there would be other concerts to go to. This kind of late couldn't be fixed, and I was devastated when they broke up and I realized I had missed my only opportunity. It wasn't like when I discovered Fall Out Boy in 2010 and read that they were on indefinite hiatus. This was my favorite band, and their breakup seemed to be forever.

I was late in cutting out troubling people.

Both people who caused me trouble and people who just troubled me. I never wanted to hurt anyone, and so I put off making the right decisions. Even now, I'm learning how to cut people off and not feel sorry about it. I just wish I knew how to do that earlier in my life.

I was late in reading Terry Pratchett.

One of my friends my senior year gave me a book called "Mort for Christmas" by Terry Pratchett. I had never even heard of him, until I found out he did a book with Neil Gaiman. I put off reading his novel because in an AP Literature class I had plenty to read anyway. I found out the following March that he passed away, and there was a heavy sense of regret. I read "Good Omens" and it was fantastic. I'm working on the first of the Discworld books now, but there's always that shadow that he's gone. Neil Gaiman talks about him a lot, and their friendship warms my heart, and makes me sad. It's a bittersweet lateness.

I was late to my best friend's graduation.

My high school had graduation practice the same time that my best friend's graduation was starting. I couldn't skip it, or I wouldn't walk. I was furious at the teacher, and I think I always will be just for that. I was standing around trying to get people to hurry up because I had somewhere to be, but no one knew what they were doing and instead I drove as fast as I was allowed, pulled into the parking lot of the Dunn Center, and saw them walk out. I burst into tears. I had been late to classes before, I had been late to practices, but being late to my best friend's graduation seemed unforgivable.

Which, of course, meant she forgave me.

This isn't a full list of things I'm late to. If I got more specific, I think I'd embarrass myself too much. I'm really terrible with deadlines, mostly because I'm very forgetful. I think the key is to not be so hard on yourself because there are times where you can't take it back and you can't change it so what are you really going to do about it? Try harder next time, or accept what happened.