"Your past will be your teacher if you learn from it; your master if you live in it." -Dr. Steve Maraboli

We live in a world where people are judged based on their past. Judged by people that live in terror of having their own past criticized. As humans, we were born to make mistakes. There's no way around that. I've made my fair share of mistakes, but the key is to learn from them. Because if you know you've made a mistake for the second time — it's no longer a mistake, it's a choice.

There was one day about six and a half years ago that changed my entire life. It gave me a whole new perspective. It forced me to recreate myself. The day my first sibling was born. Holding my brother for the first time, having his hand wrapped around my finger, knowing that this little boy was listening to the beat of my heart as he laid on my chest, realizing that one day he would be listening to my words instead ... that was the day that I took a long, harsh stare at my life and questioned if I was behaving in a way that I wouldn't mind my brother learning from. The answer was no. The person I had been, the mistakes I had made, I didn't want Sawyer to see any of that. Life becomes completely different when a big, blue-eyed child starts watching your every move.

Over the years I've recreated myself. I'm no longer stuck with the mindset that the world is out to get me. I no longer feel the need to scream at my parents just because we disagree. I no longer rush through each day. Every day is a gift, and I try my hardest to treat it as such.

My past made me the person I am today, and it helped create the path for who I will become. There is no hatred towards the mistakes I've made, whether it be ex-boyfriends, schoolgirl arguments or dumb decisions. No matter what I did or how bad it effected me in that moment ... I'm better off now. I learned a lesson, and without the help of my small stepping stones to get to where I am — there is no telling where I'd be.

So instead of hating myself or the other parties involved for my mistakes, I welcome the lessons, I give thanks to the past. Thanks for kicking my butt, thanks for creating my tears, thanks for ruined relationships, thanks for the humiliation, thanks for the punishments and restrictions, but most of all ... thanks for showing me a time in my life that I'd never want to relive.

I'm not perfect. I am still steadily making mistakes, but over the years I've learned to roll with the punches from the repercussions. I'm stronger, steadier and smarter, all thanks to my past.

So don't worry about the mistakes you've made; learn from them. That way you won't do it again. Don't toss stones in the direction of people making mistakes; they are learning lessons just like the rest of us. It's a way of life; use it as a tool to create the type of life you want and to be the type of person you wish to be.