We've all been there, small things like tripping over our feet and embarrassing ourselves, big things like completely failing at important parts of our lives— whether it be relationships, professional steps, or entire semesters of college. We've all messed up.

We've all done things that we aren't proud of. We've all wondered for a minute who took over our brain, our heart, our world for that time. We've hurt others, said and did things that we wish we could've taken back. But we can't. Time travel isn't here yet. Doc Brown might be here one day but for now, the DeLorean is only in our movies and dreams. Though many people like to say they don't have any regrets, we all have moments in our lives that we wish we would've handled differently. Unfortunately, lessons are only learned after the embarrassment and pain of the initial decision. Sometimes the pain lasts for years. Sometimes mistakes have to be made more than once— three, four, five times. Guess what? You're still worthy of love and respect. Someone still loves you. You're still important and you still matter.

It's never too late to change the direction of your life— to work harder, to be better, to work toward the you that you want to be. Even if you have a setback, even if it's huge and you let yourself down and hurt others and don't know how to get back on your feet again— you can. You always can. Seize every opportunity that becomes available, research every option, find your will and find your way. There is always a way to get back up again as long as you have a breath in you. Nothing is ever worth giving up on life. Some of the most successful people in this world have come from challenging childhoods, troubled pasts, and plenty of wrong turns in their lives. Strive to find your own passion what drives you. Sometimes the best driving force can be proving those wrong that never thought you'd become anything more than what they knew of you or thought you were.

An even better driving force is proving yourself wrong. We are our worst critics after all. Make yourself proud. Get up each day, wipe the sleep from your eyes, embrace the sun that rises no matter what goes on in the world each day before, and remember that you too have a new opportunity to rise each day, a new day is a new step toward whatever your goals are. Don't accept your own doubt, don't stop fighting for your own happiness. Push yourself consistently.

So, sure, you turned down the wrong path a time or two. Maybe you were dragged down paths— but maybe you needed to travel those roads. Maybe there were other reasons you may not have understood and may never understand. In the words of Forrest Gump, "I don't know if we each have a destiny or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze, but I-- I think maybe it's both. Maybe both happening at the same time." Sometimes we don't realize why things happen in our lives, why we made the wrong decisions, why we lack the motivation, or why we flat out fell on our faces. I've realized that even some of the most horrible decisions I've made or things I've been through that I had no choice in— though they were so awful that I wouldn't ask for them or wish them on anyone, they really were all for a reason.

Each experience in life can be added to that overall drive that gets you to each next step in your journey to success and happiness. Use the darkness with the light, because everything in life works off of one another. Learn from your failures in the past. Think about your rock bottom instead of blocking it out so that you can remember just how far you want to push yourself from being there ever again.

You are not your mistakes. You are not your failures. You are so much more than that. Those were experiences, not who you are. You are a work in progress, as we all are, who is learning and growing and becoming your best you. And you are worthy of love, success and happiness, because you are a human being with the wonderful ability to learn and evolve and you have a new chance with each new sunrise. You have something inside of you that is ready to be found and only you can find it. Don't give up. Love yourself. Forgive yourself.