Imagine being scolded and cast out for the rest of your life just because you made a mistake. We’ve all made a mistake, but when Hester Pynne—the main character in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne—commits a crime, it follows her to her grave. She’s forced to wear a red letter for the rest of her life, the letter symbolizing the crime she’s committed. Imagine being forever branded with your mistakes. They never leave you. They cause you to lose friends, jobs, and your whole life. It follows you to your grave and there isn’t a single soul who doesn’t know what you’ve done. If I had a scarlet letter, it would be a W for worrying too much. I’m always afraid of doing the wrong thing and making others unhappy. When I was little, I used
