When we are younger, we all have these ideas of who we are and what we will be when we grow up. We are constantly asked about where we see ourselves in however many years, even when we are super young. We are told to look to the future and figure out what we want to be when we grow up.

Flashback to me being like 6 years old.

When asked what I wanted to be, I would always say firefighter. I have no idea why. It's just what I wanted to be and I wouldn't waver. I was really small. Like, 40 pounds small. I loved the way firefighters fought for people's safety and they always looked so strong. And cool, too.

I'm not a firefighter and I am glad I'm not.

But does that let my past self down? Am I not truly fulfilling my dreams? Our dreams at a young age tend to reveal what we truly want, as we are innocent in those years. Nothing has influenced us yet and the world has yet to change us in the drastic ways it eventually will.

I remember so vividly wanting to become a firefighter and telling everyone about it. I'm a writer now -- completely different from my first goal. If I became a firefighter, my life would be totally different than it is now. I may not have looked how I look, live where I live, enjoy what I enjoy or love who I love.

The what-ifs are something I cannot dwell on, simply because they will never exist. I am not who I thought I would grow up to be. My 6-year-old self didn't see me being a writer in my future. Honestly, when I was 18, I didn't see myself here either.

As I grow, I notice what I want to be and what I aspire for changes. That doesn't mean I am letting down my previous self. You set goals and try to attain them, and if you don't, you change them.

That's one of the best things about life. The ability to change and be O.K. with it.

And I am.