A person’s true maturity is not that they have never experienced darkness, but that, after seeing the complexity of human nature, they can still retain their own agency; they have been betrayed, yet do not lose trust as a result; they have seen their share of temptations tied to self-interest, yet do not abandon their principles as a result; they have tasted pain, yet do not let pain become their worldview. Many people are shaped by their experiences, while others begin to reshape themselves. Real growth is not that the world changes you, but that you learn to decide what is worth entering your inner self, and what is only a passing experience. Experiences shape cognition, cognition determines choices, and choices ultimately determine what kind of person one becomes.