I've always been a firm believer in the opinion that friendship break-ups always hurt so much more than actual relationship break-ups.

A phrase that I always hear time and time again whenever a friendship ends is, "You aren't the same person I knew before, you've changed."

Admittingly, hearing that phrase being said to me, used to crush my heart.

I used to blame myself for every single bad thing that happened in our broken friendship. Even if I wasn't at fault, I still felt like I could've done more to not let our friendship break.

That is until I learned that change isn't a bad thing despite what everyone says. Change is good, but how you change is another thing altogether.

Not letting people walk all over you, is a change for the better.

Not letting others influence you or stop you from being yourself, is a change for the better.

Being confident in who you are and how you perceive yourself is a change for the better.

Change is never a bad thing.

It's a change for you, and only you.

Many interpret change in a negative way and will often try to belittle you for trying to better yourself, but change is nothing more than an improvement.

Sometimes change can take a day while other times, change takes years.

They can be such simple things like trying out a new hairstyle or dressing differently, but other times change can be drastic like changing your entire career or where you choose to live.

It's scary because change often includes trying out different things and we as a society have come to the confirmation that different is bad.

However different is never bad, on the contrary trying to change is only a step forward into becoming the person that you've always wanted to be.

Differences often come with change, but it's important to remember that everyone is different in their own way, and although a lot of people think it's weird, don't let that affect you.

Be proud and love yourself for being different.

Be proud of the changes you've gone through to be different.

So next time you hear, "You aren't the same person I knew before, you've changed," don't let that hurt you.

Don't let it ruin your perfect day or your wonderful mood.

Next time someone tells you that, hold your head up high and say, "I changed for the better. I changed for me."