It's seems as though there are more bad people in the world than there are good. With the help of the news and media I used to be convinced that I am constantly surrounded by people who have bad intentions. Some life experiences I've had with people has also been a factor for the reason I have had this constant negative way of thinking about humanity. Hearing about people being corrupt and controlled by greed on the news and also being exposed to those who are deceitful and narcissistic made me want to avoid getting close to people. I had this feeling towards people for so long that I used to just prefer to be alone than to make friends. I wouldn't mind being acquaintances with people, but possibly forming a close relationship with them was out of the question.

I started to believe that it would just be useless to try to befriend someone because the friendship would just eventually end over something like an argument. For a long time I would avoid people so I could avoid the possibility of getting hurt emotionally. After my parents realized that I was thinking this way, they were able to convince me that I shouldn't go through life avoiding people in order to avoid conflict. I learned that I should take the risk of forming a relationship with someone and possibly getting into an argument with them, than to not befriend them at all. They always tell me that life is about experiences; some will be good and some will be bad. I wouldn't be living if I tried to go through life avoiding conflict.

Gandi stated that, "Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it." I now understand what he meant. Many relationships experience some type of conflict at least once. I have to just remember that I can still have a great relationship with someone even if we do get into some type of argument. I also have to remember that it's part of nature for people to come in and out of our lives. Those who we are meant to be with, whether it be friends or something more, will stay in our lives no matter what type of conflict may occur, and those who aren't supposed to be in our lives won't be. Things happen for a reason and life is about change.

I'm happy I've changed my way of thinking about people. In the past few months I've been able to meet some really amazing people, and some who aren't so great. However, it's worth giving people a chance because by not doing so, I wouldn't have been able to meet those amazing people. At the end of the day, you can't live trying to avoid people and conflict. It's not worth missing out on some potential friendships you could form with others.