No matter who you are, or how old you are there are always two things that a majority of people try to run from; their past and their mistakes. We think that these things define who we are and that this is the way that everyone will always view us.

While that is the sad truth, the past does not define who we are and neither do our mistakes. We allow them to because we think that is the way it has to be. We let people see us for our past and our mistakes when they should be seeing who we really are at this moment. Let's face it, our past and mistakes are all trials for who we are becoming. We do things thinking that we want to be that person in that moment, but when we start seeing how it truly affects us we realize that we want to be something more or even something less.

Each person has had their fair share of mistakes. Judging someone based off of those mistakes is not fair at all. Not many of us have made the same mistake twice, but sometimes we do. Either way, they are our mistakes to make and no one else's. No matter how crazy the mistakes we make may seem, they never truly define us; but they do shape us. They shape us into who we are, and who we are becoming.

If you did not make the mistakes that you have, you would not be who you are today. These mistakes build our character. We learn how to be stronger, become more knowledgeable, and how to grow. We begin growing into who we want to be, the person we always dreamed of becoming. Sure sometimes we put ourselves in some bad predicaments, but later down the road, we look back and realize it was all worth it for where we are now.

Do not be ashamed of your past or your mistakes. It does not matter how people view you, it only matters how you see yourself. So learn from your mistakes, and let them build you up. The past has nothing on you, only the present and future do.

There is a quote I came across the other day written by Hannah Kent, "to know what a person has done and to know who a person is, are very different things." This is something people need to realize, something that is important to live by. You may have known a person in the past, but everyone and everything are constantly changing. What people do and who someone actually is are two different things altogether.

People change like the seasons. Just because they have done one thing in the past does not mean that they can't do a 360 and totally surprise everyone. Even with someone's past or their mistakes, people should not be expecting less from that individual.

So do not let people degrade you because of your past or your mistakes. Instead, show them the change these things have had on you, and how they have made you a better person. You are the one that decides whether these two things will define you or whether they will shape you into who you are or who you are becoming.