There's an old saying, "You can always tell what children are going to be like when they grow up." The logic behind that being although kids mature into grown-ups ,of course, but certain aspects of them always remain the same.

See, as a child, I was always destined to be precocious. I grew up as the youngest of three, while simultaneously being the only girl. I don't mean to justify my (at times!) spoiled attitude, I am just stating that it has some sort of platform. Being the youngest always meant having more than enough people watching over me and giving me what I want. It also meant having my fair share of people telling me what to do. This kind of environment only helped shape my personality, it didn't change it completely.

As a child, I was always a walking contradiction. I would beg my mother to let me go play outside, however once she did, I never really wanted to interact with other children. I was incredibly curious and consistently asking questions. I was also incredibly fickle and intently passionate about very specific things. When you're a kid, however, it doesn't really matter what kind of personality a little kid has. Almost any outstanding personality trait will be cooed and regarded as "adorable." As was the case with me. My naivety and wide-eyed innocence was seen as all that was pure and good. My absolute belief that all people were inherently good and beautiful was something for adults to chuckle at when they spoke to me. When I was a kid, everyone thought of my quirks and strange passions as something cute that I would eventually "grow out" of.

Which, of course, only complicated things when I didn't.

I remain the same passionate girl with the same tendency for contradicting myself. I have nothing but love for almost everyone I come across. My mother has always told me that those with big hearts were always going to get hurt. But that's exactly the point. When I was younger, I also confronted many broken pinky-promises and many discouraging encounters with other people. But that didn't stop me from trusting others and believing promises. I am still that wide-eyed girl who will believe you, if you ask me too. I am still that person that gives all of her heart in every endeavor, and I am not ashamed of it.

We as people don't have to grow out of our younger beliefs. We just have to reinforce them with our own actions. I can recognize that my maturity will always have to increase. But it doesn't make me dumb to legitimately believe in things like true love or just believing in people in general. Just because it's not "adorable" anymore doesn't mean I'm going to stop standing up for who I am.

It just means I realized who I was at a young age. I can only hope others can be quite so fortunate.