You are You

The topic of change has come up a fair amount recently.  Not self-change, or change by choice, but change due to the influence of those around you.  It is something that all of us deal with, people who want us to be other than we are.  Some of these people do not do it consciously, but they do still do it intentionally, if that makes any sense.  They want us to be something else.  They have different methods of going about accomplishing their goal, and unfortunately sometimes people do not even notice that they are being changed.  They are isolated from their old life so that they will not necessarily have the comparison, or the reminder, and they notice that they have been transformed into a "non-self" after it becomes difficult to return to their true nature.  How can we prevent this, or remedy it before it becomes such a part of our new-selves?  I can only say that family and/or people of our past are the best to help remind you of what you love.  Keeping a connection with them, as well as revisiting them will keep you aware of who you were then, and also, whether you liked that person more than this person you are becoming.  It can help to remind you of what you may have let go that you would like to reconnect with or rediscover, and what about you has changed that you may actually appreciate now.

My main thought tonight, though probably not exactly clear, as I am not making much of an effort to organize my ideas at this point, is that I am becoming increasingly upset when I see people who have changed and sacrificed their true selves because someone in their life decided that they wanted to change them and were able to do it.  People should not be ashamed of who they are and should be proud of themselves.  Live for you.  People who make you feel bad about a characteristic of you or guilty about things, are not worth your time or emotional energy.  It isn't worth it.