We have all heard about nature versus nurture. It’s a theory that’s been around forever. The truth of the matter is hard but true. We are all our own individual people. We know what we’re doing, and we make our own choices. Some of these decisions are harder than others, but we make them. We have the free will to make every decision that we make.

What’s something that can change someone? We’ve had friends that have started in one way and eventually become something different. We have started as something and molded ourselves into the people we are now. Are we the only ones that have molded who we are?

The true answer is no. We haven’t been the only ones that change into who we are. We become what we are through different times and decisions throughout our lives. What if we made one different move, and we never met someone that matters so much to us? Would we be the same person? Likely not. 

Spending time around a group of people means you’ll likely develop the same interests as these people. Is this a hard fact? It’s not, but it’s likely. People have an inherent desire to fit in with the crowd. When you’re around a crowd of people, it’s scary to be the one person who stands out. It can be scary to be the person who’s different from everyone around you.

People are known to mock and terrorize things that are different, that isn’t just like them. And people want to stay in the group they’re in, it’s the way they’ve lived. Standing out was never known to be the “cool” thing growing up. Going to the same stores as everyone else, enjoying the same music, watching the same things on TV, being a part of the in-crowd was so important for many ages.

As we grow older, we grow into ourselves a bit more. We can change who we once were. People around us come and go, but we learn from them. Some people learn that what they thought was the right thing wasn’t right at all, but they’re still doing the best they know. When we encounter people, they can bring out the darkness in us, or they can bring out the light.

No one knows what letting that one person in your life will do for them. You never know what allowing that person in your life could do to you. There have been times in my life I’ve been a “bad” person. I didn’t know it at the time; I wanted to be loved. I wanted to fit in, and I did things I wasn’t proud of doing. They were done for others. They were done because I was afraid to be me.

I’ve grown more, I’ve met more people, and I’m no longer afraid to be who I am. Yes, I’ve changed. The people I’ve allowed into my life, to break down my walls, have changed me. I am now proud to stand up and be who I am. I may not know all of who I am, that’s still yet to come, but people have changed me.

People change people. This is a part of life, and we should never be ashamed of it. I am not ashamed of who I’ve become through the people I’ve met in my life, whether they’re still a part of it or not. I am not ashamed to be me, through and through. There were times that I was terrified to be myself, but what was the reasoning? I was afraid to be different. I was afraid that I was alone.

The fear of being alone drives some people to do crazy things. They’ll make mistakes. There are mistakes I’ve made over and over, and hurt people that I cared about. I never stopped caring about them, even though my actions spoke otherwise. I have hurt people, and I still care about them. I hope they’re doing well, even though they are no longer pieces in the puzzle of my life.

Maybe they are. Maybe they’re pieces that were laid down and placed together. I don’t need to prove to them I have changed, though. I have met the best influences in my life, and I’ve allowed them to help me change and grow. 

The meaning of all of this, what may seem like senseless rambles, people change people. No one can go through life alone, and no one has to. Allow people into your life; hear what they have to say. People can shine light into areas that you didn’t know existed. They did it for me and turned me into someone I am proud to be. I am proud to say that people have changed me, and it’s in the best of ways.