Among the people you’ve known for a long time, who is the person who’s changed the most over the years? Was the change for the better?

Throughout the years people change due to age, maturity, preferences and the major factor of all, life circumstances. Whether we like it or not the experiences that we go through in life affects us in so many ways and in so many levels. Each triumph and trial that we go through changes how we look at things. It affects our preferences in life and our belief system. It affects our whole being. There are life experiences that we go through that changes our complete persona and then there are those that slightly inspire a change in us. I know that life circumstances doesn’t automatically change who we are but it is up to us to initiate the change in our behavior and outlook on life. If we choose to change and consciously made that decision, then that means we allowed the circumstances in our lives to change who we are. It’s always our call. Now, I am not going to say any specifics but there is someone whom I’ve known for a long time who has definitely changed over the years. I don’t think they even realize it though. They’ve done things that offended me and really hurt my feelings but I always find myself analyzing their life to understand why they have changed although my first reaction almost all the time is wonder if I did anything wrong. I can’t help but get upset when someone offends me but then again I don’t just jump into conclusions or judge them. I try my best to understand them. Maybe they are going through a rough time in their life and chooses to keep it to themselves. There are many things we need to take into consideration before concluding anything. Even so, we can’t take everything personally. I know it’s easier said than done but we have to give it our best shot. Everyone deals with life circumstances differently so we must respect our differences. I think as long as they are not stepping in our boundaries and are not blatantly disrespecting us, we should accept them for who they are, with faults and all. After all nobody’s perfect. We all have flaws, just not the same flaws. We have to try to always see the good in people even in the worst circumstances. But if there is ever a time where you find yourself continuously being disrespected for no apparent reason and you’ve been very patient for so long, you have all the right to defend yourself and say something. Just remember to get your point across without stooping down their level.

*DP