An important fact to remember about people is that they are always changing.

And they are always changing because they are always learning.

Contrary to popular belief, “learning” does not just happen in school, or primarily occur when we are children.

Learning never stops.

And to reiterate: I am not talking about learning for education.

The learning that takes place from a textbook or an hour-long sleep-inducing lecture from a teacher.

I’m talking about the lessons we learn throughout our lives that have nothing to do with school, but our experiences and our relationships.

Of course, our physical appearance changes—and we have all looked back on a picture of ourselves from five or ten years ago and scoffed at our braces or acne or denounced our awful haircut.

But when I look at old pictures of myself, the first thing that comes to my mind is how I’d like to just scream in the old me's face.

The old me had her own issues, own opinions, and own feelings that I do not claim anymore.

It is honestly hard for me to even admit some things I said, did, or believed.

It is easy to be embarrassed by our old selves, and simply pretend as if we never knew ‘them.’

But the fact of the matter is, that is who we were at one point in time, whether we like to admit it or not.

While it may be easy to condemn your old self, and let your past haunt you, whether this dreadful reminder may come at the hands of others or our own mind, but this will not serve you any good.

It is better to own up to your past and admit to your mistakes, no matter how big or small they may be.

Nobody is perfect, and no one should ever expect you to be.

We all possess misconceptions about people and make misjudgments about situations. It is basic human nature to augment a minor inconvenience when we are solely driven by our emotions or feelings.

The good news is that we learn from these misconceptions and misjudgments and become a better person by fixing mistakes we made in our pasts.

Don't let yourself or others define you by your past mistakes.

Even if these mistakes occurred only a few months prior, we can still learn and grow from them.

There is not a specifically allotted amount of time in which you can or cannot learn from your words, actions, or feelings.

We feel angry, we feel upset, we feel broken, we feel confused, we feel lost.

We grow, we evolve, and we carry on.

We are happy, we are laughing, we cry, we forgive.

We are all made differently and possess individual traits specific to us.

Because we are all imperfect human beings.