I, like many people, love to live in the past. I love reminiscing and thinking about some of my favorite memories. I'm a people person, which means so many of my memories involve other people. I love having those connections with others.

When my best friend and I talk, we love to reminisce and talk about what life was like when we were growing up. One of my favorite things to do was go over her house before elementary school and watch cartoons. I cherish those memories every single day.

However, there are times when living in the past can hold us back. That's when you need to change something.

My high school years were filled with so many different people, places and memories. Without realizing it, I grew up so much and grew away from so many people at the same time.

I used to say it took me four years in high school to really find my group, but that's not true. In my four years at that school, I was friends with so many people at so many different times, but some of those friendships were only meant to last for that short time.

Growth isn't a bad thing. Sometimes, when we grow we leave other people behind, and that's OK.

At the end of sophomore year, I had a really solid group of friends from work that I hung out with all summer. But by the end of junior year, I was no longer someone who got along with them as well.

I changed as a person, which changed my relationships with so many people. People I thought were going to be in my life forever turned out to be people that were in my life just for that small period of time, which is completely fine.

I don't think I could be friends with the people I was friends with during those different periods of my life. Changing doesn't make me a bad person. It just makes me human.

The idea that I should feel bad for moving on from relationships that no longer benefit anyone is honestly stupid.

I'm not the same person that I was a year, month or even a week ago. There are people I used to talk to every single day that no longer have any idea what's happening in my life. That isn't bad. It's what happens at this point in our lives.

At the same time, there are people that I talk to all the time now who I never would have imagined staying in my life for that long. My senior year prom date hated me during our sophomore and junior year, but he's grown to be one of my favorite people ever. Things change. That's life.

You aren't obligated to make time for people, no matter what. If something isn't working anymore, you don't have to fix it.

Life moves on no matter what, and you should be able to surround yourself with people that benefit you and make you a better person. If someone or something is holding you back, you have to get away from them.

Expired relationships aren't a bad thing. They're just a reality of growing up.