“Learn from your mistakes.”

“Mistakes make you a better person.”

“You need to make mistakes in order to grow.”

If you have messed up sometime in your lifetime, like I have done many times before, chances are that you have heard one of the above-mentioned phrases by someone trying to help you see the error of your ways.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of anything remotely cheesy when it comes to phrases, quotes, words spoken, etc. However, I will say this: I am a sucker for those few cheesy quotes that are actually true and relevant to life.

The phrases above are a few of those not-so-cheesy phrases that have a lot of truth and depth to them, whether we realize it or not. It is also true that we don’t see the truth in what our friends and family try telling us until after we have made a mistake.

These past couple of months have been full of mistakes. Mistakes were made when it came to choosing who I wanted to be friends with, choosing which boy I wanted to give my time and attention to, choosing which lie to tell, choosing to lie at all -- and even smaller things, like choosing to wear really cute but painful sky-high heels and waking up with blisters the following morning.

I look back at these mistakes and think to myself, how could I have been so ignorant and stubborn enough to do something that would only end up hurting me in the end? Yet I don’t regret any of these mistakes.

“Mistakes make you a better person.”

I don’t regret any of these mistakes because I have realized that I have become a much better person because of them.

I am a better person because I have been friends with people who have made me recognize my inner beauty through their judgmental comments.

I am a better person because the boy I gave my time and attention to made me realize that some people will lie and cheat their way to getting what they want, and I do not want to be someone who lies to and cheats on those I care about to get what I want. Thanks to him, I now also know the difference between want and need.

I am a better person for wearing those cute but painful heels because next time, I will be prepared with a pair of flats to wear once my feet start to get tired.

“You need to make mistakes in order to grow.”

We need to make these mistakes to grow and see what truly matters in our lives. We should not let one big or small mistake take over and stop us from moving on from it. I don’t think we realize that the mistakes we make have so much potential power over us that sometimes, we become fixated on this one mistake and we are unable to move past it.

“Learn from your mistakes.”

Move on from your mistakes and learn from them. Learn from your mistakes because at the end of the day that’s all you can really do. Look back and try to pinpoint the moment you went wrong, and learn not to make that same mistake again.

Mistakes are God’s way of giving us an endless supply of second chances. A second chance to follow his plans for us and head towards the right path. They are stepping stones that are a bit loose when you step on them, and they will shake us to our cores, but because of that, we learn to find our ground again and move on.

Your mistakes don’t define you. Don’t let them define you. If you do, you will be unable to see the truth in these not-so-cheesy quotes about mistakes that are only trying to help you get past them.

“Some mistakes... Just have greater consequences than others. But you don't have to let the result of one mistake be the thing that defines you. You have the choice not to let that happen.” -Jojo Moyes, Me Before You