All things change with time. Quick or slow, everything is subject to be a little more different than the day before.
People typically have a say in how quickly they change and what changes about them. Whatever changes though, people are never who they were in previous years.
I've lived in this college town for four years. I've met many people in that time, and I know that not one person is the same as they were when they first moved here. We are constantly affected by the people that come and go from our lives and it's important we can recognize change in ourselves and others.
As we grow, we must learn to reexamine our views. We need to think about our feelings about the world, people, beliefs, and everything we think we are certain about and see what's evolved. Chances are, through our lives, nothing will ever settle. We will always find our minds are changing -- everything from personality, looks, and mindsets will be different over time.
With this, it's important to understand that while we see ourselves change, others do, too.
We can lose touch with people for so many reasons, and months or years later, they're almost guaranteed to be different that the last time you saw them. Whether the change was better or worse, they won't be who they were before.
So many people hold grudges, stay bitter, or keep fighting imaginary wars long after the dust has settled. They refuse to move out of their old mindsets and relook at their opinions of others; Some keep up the idea that others are impossible of any change -- good or bad.
After a falling out with a friend in my first year of college, I kept up a negative mindset for years. I wondered what ever happened to my old friend -- what they had accomplished and celebrated in the time apart. I wondered, but I felt things would never fully be okay. I felt like she would resent me for not reaching out or for not ending on a better note. Maybe we would find ourselves in uncomfortable small talk and that would be the most of our reconnection. I worried we would continue where we had left off with tension and awkwardness we drifted. I thought we would be the same as we were three years prior.
No one is the same though.
It's been nearly four months since I've reached out to my old friend and we've found ourselves reconnecting all over again. We've seen how three years has changed us as individuals. We still find our old selves in one another, but we can see how time has matured us.
As individuals, we are responsible for letting ourselves change for the better. We are responsible for letting go, growing, and getting it together. The right people can help influence us to change in those ways.
When we let our pasts and problems go over time, and when we take the time to make positive changes for ourselves, it lets things refresh. It cleans the air.
Take the time to look at who you are. Look at your relationships.
Everyone else has changed. Have you?
