When we hear the words, “You’ve changed,” our reactions can vary.
For instance, these are welcome words to a person who has experienced weight loss or who is celebrating a milestone of sobriety.
But when this phrase is being leveled as an accusation, it has a whole different feel.
Here’s how to keep changes in ourselves and others in perspective.
First, we must remember that none of us are the same person that we were even just a few short years ago.
Hopefully, we’re all a bit wiser and more experienced than before.
Life is about learning and becoming.
Anyone who resists change for long enough risks becoming stagnant in his or her development.
Would you really want to be the same person today that you were at age 15, or age 25?
Secondly, we need to allow others the privilege of changing and growing.
T.K. Coleman reminds us:
“If you’re willing to acknowledge these things about your own life, remember to extend the same grace to others. More often than we’re inclined to realize, human beings are more nuanced than how we remember them.”
Each of us has done things that left us feeling ashamed or embarrassed but those mistakes don’t need to be the defining characteristic of who or what we are.
The changes we’ve made may not be obvious to everyone around us but they still represent real growth.
Patience with ourselves and others encourages the right kind of change.
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