Even if it matters

People don’t always mess up because they’re careless or cruel. Sometimes they mess up because they didn’t really know themselves yet. Because they were running on wounds they hadn’t healed, boundaries they hadn’t learned to set, or self-worth they hadn’t figured out.

Not everyone who made bad choices had bad intentions. Growth doesn’t always come before the damage. Sometimes it comes because of it. And while that doesn’t erase the consequences, it doesn’t have to be the end of the story either.

Just because someone won’t accept your past doesn’t mean no one will. Not everyone is meant to understand your journey, and that’s okay. Some people are meant to meet you before the lessons. Others are meant to meet you after.

There are people out there who won’t see your past as a problem, but as context. Who won’t excuse it, but also won’t define you by it. People who can tell the difference between someone repeating the same mistakes and someone who’s outgrown them.

Deserving love doesn’t mean being perfect. It means being human, making mistakes, and still choosing to do better once you know better. Your past doesn’t make you unworthy. Your mistakes don’t make you a bad person.

And real love? It’s not about erasing history. It’s about seeing someone as they are now, and deciding if the direction they’re heading fits with yours.

Some people will walk away because they can’t get past what you’ve done. Others will stay because they see who you are.

Neither is wrong.

Not everyone is your person. But someone, one day, might be. Not because they ignored your past, but because they saw it, understood it, and still chose you.