My aunt always told me to ask questions. Looking back, I wish she'd also told me to be ready for the answers.

Not because I regret asking.

I don't.

But some answers change the way you see everything that came before them.

I've been a lot of things in my life. Some good. Some not so good. Some I'm proud of. Some I'm still trying to figure out.

None of those things are the whole story.

I think people should be allowed to grow. To make mistakes. To learn from them. To be honest about where they've been without being defined by it forever.

We should be allowed to become more than the labels, assumptions, and stories other people tell about us.

That's what I'm still learning.

theRecord • Becoming • IAM