Is day trading profitable?

I have been day trading for over a decade as an "independent" or "retail" trader. I am 27 years old and began when I finished High School at 17 because I loved the idea of making a potentially unlimited amount of money. I used my laptop and opened an account with a derivatives provider who at the time provided access to leveraged securities at market prices (less a set commission). I started out by just reading the local financial newspaper and placing small positions on the Australian S&P 200 stock index. I knew that the Australian market, more times than not, followed the lead for the United States. My strategy was basically to purchase either a long (up) or short (down) position on the ASX / S&P 200 index, depending on what the US markets had done overnight. I made $200.00 one day and lost $300.00 the next, this pattern repeated itself until I needed to get a part-time job to afford my trading losses. I decided to give away my idea of being a day-trader - but every time I heard the word stock market or saw the current price of the ASX / S&P 200 index, I logged back into my providers account and began trading (and losing) - repeatedly. In 2008 I decided to get a full-time job working for a Government Agency (completely unrelated to trading) - I would spend all of the money earned at my real job on the stock market. My mother thought I was a gambling addict, I began questioning myself and started placing ridiculous trades. In one month I made $80,000.00 - that's more than I have ever made in my life - it's more than my "real job" paid - and I lost it all in one afternoon trying to turn it into a million. I promised myself I'd never trade again - that was in 2013. A few months later I deposited my salary into a new broker and began trading the ASX / S&P 200 Index again, this time I had a written strategy and I also had a few years of experience under my belt. I began to make modest amounts of money on Monday and Tuesday, but when Wednesday came around I would forget to take it slow and dump the whole lot on - sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. I got sick, I spent 6 months in hospital - I couldn't work at my regular job even if I wanted too. I could sit in front of a computer and trade - I spent 8 hours everyday for over 5 years just trading one index. I flirted with Forex, but that market moved way too fast and unpredictably for me. In 2016 something changed, I lost the urge to "make millions" and instead focused on just placing good trades based on a written trading strategy that I had developed over a decade. I found a broker that provided me trades at fair market value and didn't cheat me - now I make a consistent income. It has taken a decade of patience, failure, huge losses after huge losses, reading thousands of books and website articles - I must have spent over 10,000 hours staring at a candlestick chart of the ASX / S&P 200. This week however, like last week and the weeks before, I made a modest income that is comparable with any other professional with a decade of experience. I am not rich by any means - it took a decade. I wouldn't recommend it unless you really, really, really love the financial markets and get a buzz out of being the first to know major world events. If you have that passion - yes, day trading is profitable. Like anything, it requires skill, education and experience. The profits are commensurate with that.