We meet people at different stages of their lives. Some we know from 6th grade. Others we just met at our current job. We meet some fully formed, sort of speak. Some we met while still in key developmental stages.

Everybody has a past, even those you know for a rather long time. Everyone has made a mistake or two. Maybe even 50. I’m putting the cut off there. 100 seems a tad bit much. You make judgment calls. What seems like a reasonable mistake. What seems abhorrent. And even then, what can you get past?

Are we to forever judged by a past mistake? For the most part, I would think not. Yet, even if we believe we are above that, we subconsciously remember that past transgression and may even wonder if it still holds.

Let’s give a concrete example. We are often told in popular culture, “Once a cheater, always a cheater.” Is it necessarily fair to judge someone on that. Maybe, maybe not. The question is whether we allow that past to impact the present.