Are we more than our biggest mistake?

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I've been thinking a lot lately, and the one thing that keeps popping into my mind has everything to do with people. Ever notice how most of us regard people? How one bad thing can erase every good thing they've done? I mean are we more than our mistakes? Are our bad traits so bad that they erase our good traits? I mean someone can do a ton of kind things for you, and then one day do one really bad thing, and then suddenly the good things don't seem to matter anymore. We've all done bad things that we aren't proud of and a lot of us have lost people because of it, and we wish we would have been given another chance, but if it happens to us we often don't think about the other person. I'm not saying any of this because I feel like I'm a better person and give people chances, but because it's honestly something I've been thinking about, I give up on people too. I think we think of self preservation first. I mean some people won't change, but then again some people do. I mean I've had people in my life were weren't mature and while I knew they were good people, they just weren't the kind of people I could rely on. I had to cut them out, and I understand this. I understand there are reasons, but sometimes I also think about what if this were me or someone else I really loved, I would want them to have friends, and I'd want them to get their lives on track, but often times once coming back from that no one looks at them the same again. I man don't you want more than that for people you care about? Once you mess up, it's something that sticks with you forever. No one forgets about it. Are we really as bad as our biggest mistake? Or are we as good as our greatest quality and our greatest achievements? It's like everything in this world is so conditional. "I love you until you mess up." There's only one love that seems to be able to withstand anything and that's the love between a mother/parent and their children. As a parent no matter what my son does I'll love him, I won't always agree with him, and I won't enable him, and I'll be disappointed sometimes, but there's nothing that will stop me from loving him. With him there will always be unlimited chances, when it comes to him turning his life around. Without a support system it's incredibly difficult to get better. We're all human, and we all make mistakes, some of us make bigger ones than others, but I'd like to believe we are capable of change. I like to think we can change each other. Sometimes it takes one person to believe in you and to give you a reason to be better. Becoming a parent changed me. I am not perfect, but I've learned to see things through new eyes. How is a person ever going to be able to become better if they have people shoving their past in their faces? I'm as guilty of it as the next person, because once you've been hurt it's hard to get over. It's an issue I've been conflicted over. I have no room to judge anyone, and while I try not to, ultimately I do. I mean who am I to talk about anyone? Not that that always stops me. I want to believe in 2nd chances, and I want to believe that a person is more than their mistakes, but are we really? Society seems to say different.