Don't be so quick to judge someone.
Just because you have known them for a while and think you know everything about them, you probably don't.
There are stories behind ever person that sometimes, never have the opportunity to come out. Whether it is good or bad, there is always a story behind someone that you do not know. Don't be so quick to make judgements about others because there is a reason behind the way they are or why they act a certain way. People have many stories in their lives they experience with so many people. You may be very important in someone's life and know many stories about them and know the good and bad within them, while someone else that it important in that same life may know different stories about that person that you currently do not know or may never not know.
Life changes right before your eyes and sometimes it changes too quickly. Sometimes you get lost in this new world you are living in and forget about who you used to be and what you used to do. Changes in life cause you to forget old values and replace them with new ones, while also making you forget some of the good aspects of yourself from the past that are no longer present.
Personally, my life has changed so much over the past year I would have never expected to happen. I started a new life in a completely new environment, moving 1,000 miles from the home I have never left, leaving my closest friends and family behind. When I look back to a few months before I left for my new life, I did not think about the positives. I would constantly think about what I would not like about living in Florida and did not think I was ever going to adjust leaving the town and home I have lived in for the past 18 years.
I did not want to leave my friends and go out and meet strangers and create new friendships because because I loved each and every one of the friendships I had back home a did not want to replace them. One of the biggest fears I had about leaving was simply the fact that my entire life was about to change and I had no idea. I was second guessing the new life I was about to embark on. I was leaving the town I was always familiar with, to begin a life in a town and state I have never known. I was leaving the friends who I spent every free minute of the day with to meet people I never would have expected to meet. I was leaving a job I loved to not working at all and almost forgetting the importance of motivation to get work done for others. To lastly leaving my old life to start one I would have never expected in a million years.
Although change is scary, it is not always bad. Everything I was afraid of, was just thoughts consuming myself in my own head. I adjusted to everything better than I ever thought I was going to. I learned to love my new home and met some amazing people. So much has changed since I've been in Florida, and it has been one hell of a journey. From meeting people that have changed my life tremendously, to learning to live on my own, to exploring places I have never been before, there is nothing I would change about my new life. But sometimes you get so caught up in the moment of all these things overwhelming your life, you almost forget the important values you used to have in your life.
Many people in my new life know some stories about my past and life back home, but not everything. They do not know the different struggles I had to overcome in high school because I only tell the ones that mean the most to me. These stories only are told during the right time and to people who you know aren't going to judge you. Not only are there stories about my struggles many people do not know, but also stories behind the values I think are important in life. Many people do not know the caring person I used to be.
I used to spend my free time away from school, friends, travel softball, and work to give up to something that is important to me. Back in 2012, I started my very own organization to give back to those in need. I would collect gently used children's items, such as clothes and toys and drive up to an organization in Philadelphia and donate these items and then spend 2-3 hours volunteering each Tuesday night. Not only did I know it was the right thing to do, but it was something I desired to do. I volunteered almost every week for a year and collected over 11,000 items to bring to the organization called Cradles to Crayons.
People in my town would flood my inbox with emails telling me they had items to donate and I would go pick up the items from people and bring them to Cradles to Crayons. Not only did I volunteer at Cradles to Crayons, I had the opportunity to spend a week participating in a leadership seminar over the summer. After the seminar, I spent even more time volunteering and even leading groups that came in to volunteer when I was only 14 years old. Cradles to Crayons and Clutter Connection became part of my every day life while I was also balancing school, friends and sports. I was published in the newspaper 3 times, as well as having a story about my organization and volunteering on television on the news.
Not only did I spend time volunteering at Cradles to Crayons for children in need, I also spent 1 hour a week helping at the food pantry. Helping out at the food pantry was something I actually loved doing. Because I could not drive at the time, I would have to beg my mom to drive me and help me volunteer every Monday for one hour during the night. Seeing and hearing stories about those that are hungry made me open my eyes and realize the importance of giving back.
Along with volunteering at the food pantry, each year for the past 5 years during the holiday season, I would make over 100 hot chocolate bags to donate and give out at the local soup kitchen. I would spend my birthday money or find the money I had laying around to go buy the supplies to make hot chocolate bags to give to the soup kitchen. One year I wanted to show the importance of giving back to the community, I even had a "holiday party" at my house in which my friends and I made hot chocolate bags and wrote letters to sick people in the hospital.
These are just some of the important values that were apart of my everyday life back at home. Since I've been at college and so much going on, I have almost forgotten about these important values. They are still so important to me and still value you them, but some people really do know your true story until you tell them at the right time.
So next time you are quick to judge someone and make an assumption about them, don't. Let them find the right time to tell you their story. It will allow you to see more about them you did not know from before and just know there is always a story to be told and know that some stories will just never be told.
