Who hasn’t made mistakes in their lives? Like, BIG mistakes?

I’m betting there isn’t a single soul on this earth who hasn’t made at least one really big mistake. And probably a heaping pile of smaller ones. Isn’t that part of what makes us human?

Yet we so often define our success, our sense of self by the gravity of the mistakes we’ve made in the past. So many of us carry them like stones in our pockets, letting them weigh us down so that the older we get, we are so encumbered by them we limit ourselves. How much we try. And how much did we risk? How much we give. How much we love.

Consider this your friendly reminder, just as seeing this sign in my neigbhourhood was for me, that you are NOT the sum of your mistakes. You have learned from them and grown. You have survived the shame, embarrassment, hurt, sorrow, loss and you are stronger because of it. Ignore the judgement that comes from anyone who isn’t you and if it IS you that’s passing judgement, let that shit go.

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you are not your past mistakes. You are the beauty that comes out of surviving them.