Trust. Friends. Life.

I think one of the hardest parts of growing up is learning how to trust yourself; especially for those of us who grew up with parents who wanted to be there for us in the best way possible, which turned out with them making a lot of our decisions for us. Hence, why I trust my mom and dad more than anyone else in this world (myself sometimes included).

Everyone is born and raised differently; that's the way life works. There's no right or wrong answer, and I appreciate the way I was brought up because I love who I am and I know I wouldn't be this way without my parents raising me the way they did.

We make mistakes--this is life. Everyone in the world makes mistakes (big and small) and I'm the kind of person who wholeheartedly believes that if someone makes a mistake and returns to mend what's been broken, they deserve a second chance. With that being said, I'm also a person who does not believe in third, fourth, fifth or sixth chances. I believe in the whole: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I comprehend and accept that statement--I know if things go sour twice, it's on me.

I believe in seeing the good in people, because let's face it: we all have pasts that contain laundry lists of mistakes and errors and judgments. We'd be hypocrites if we walked around looking for the perfect person. We'd also be lonely, because that person doesn't exist.

Positive influences exist. I believe that it's important to have positive influences in our lives but in return, it's important to be a positive influence for someone else. Sometimes the people on these lists are one in the same. Sometimes they are not. That doesn't bother me. What's important is that you know who YOU are and what YOU believe and allow that to be your truth.

Over the last two months I've grown up--a lot. I always thought that there was no way in the world I could grow up as much as I did when I moved to Los Angeles in the first place, but I've proved that to be incorrect over the course of the last sixty days.

The great thing about this post is that I came out and said what I believe to be my truth. The great thing about life is that you don't have to agree with me on any of it. But the important thing is that you accept me anyway.

So if you can see past the things that we view differently, then I am so excited for you to be a part of my life.
If you can't see past the things that we disagree on, then I'm sorry you feel that way.

Trust is earned, and I feel with the people who are in my life right now that I've earned that, as they have with me. If there is no trust, it's impossible to have a healthy relationship.

I'm proud to finally be able to defend myself.
I don't know how else to defend myself besides the words that I've written above.
Take me or leave me, this is who I am.