Do you know who you used to be? Do you know how you've changed?

In the very limited sense that there is someone here, that someone is more of a process than an entity. I’m like a dust devil out on the plains, a swirl of energy that picks up this or that piece of debris and spins it around for awhile, before dropping it and picking up something else. All of that swirling debris may look like a thing, a someone, when seen from a distance; but when it’s examined more carefully, it’s just a bunch of stuff caught up in a brief pirouette. Some of the stuff stays in the dance longer, some just gets briefly twirled.

Still, strip away the stuff and what’s left?

well i was once very active and athletic, but that has changed over the years. ive developed arthritis and fibromyalgia so im not as active as i once was. i was slender and thought of as attractive, but now im not, or i dont think i am.

I am a completely different person now that I am 64 compared to what I was at 18. I was career military, right wing, thought the peace and equal rights protesters were a bunch of hippy whiners. I thought that Johnson was trying to kill me, therefore all Democrats were idiots. Up until the Reagan convention I was a staunch supporter and office holder in the Republican Party. I also thought that all drug users should be put in jail.

After years of experience and departure from the military my views are exactly the opposite (except that I still hate Johnson).

In my opinion, only drug dealers that sell to or recruit children should be sent to jail, at least until their death penalty is completed. I believe that the government has an important place in society that capitalism must be regulated. I also believe that we absolutely must limit the influence of corporations, especially international ones. I also believe that the supreme court no longer serves the best interests of our country because they have been co-opted by the far right fascist component of the Republican party.

I now have much more in common with the hippies than I ever did with the Republican party. I understand that the Republican party once fought to free black people from slavery and even worked to insure that they had the right to vote. The Republican party now works to limit the voting rights of all minorities and any one with a liberal bent.

Lest you believe that I have sold my soul to the Democratic party, I disagree with most of them also, especially the “Blue Dog” types like Ben Nelson. The main-stream or conservative democrats need to either change or drop out of the party. We need progressive legislators, not disguised conservatives. I would personally support a clean sweep of the House, Senate and the Supreme Court. We also need to tell the President that he needs to go back to his progressive roots. Only Progressive ideas can save this nation. The time for conservative, do nothings has passed.

So I would say that life and experience have changed me, hopefully for the better.

I’m only sixteen, but I believe I’ve changed over the past three years. Family and high school experiences have defined me and made me stronger and tougher. Friendship problems and love has weakened me emotionally. I’m sure I’ll change some more over the next three years, maybe more. Maybe this is just a phase I, and every other teenager on the planet, is going through.

Three years ago, I fell in love way too easily. I got hurt by friends easily too. I didn’t really care what people thought about me. I was all about putting fun first. Now, it’s safe to say it would take someone extremely special to win me over. I don’t let friends get to me any more, though somehow I care deeply about people’s opinion of me. I’d still love to have fun – so long as I’m wearing make-up whilst doing so!!

Childhood: silly and too talkative, joyful, scared of boys and dogs
Adolescence: funny, popular, crazy and boy crazy, non-studious and did I say boy crazy?
Adult: busy, an average mommy, happy, superficial, devoted to and subservient to s/o
Older adult: Huge changes: love to learn, opinionated, fairly confident, love animals and all of nature, more religious, more independent, more understanding and accepting of others’ differences, more emotional, less social, prone to self analysis, prayer, active BS detector. lol

I used to trust everyone I met, regardless of what anyone else said about them. Over the past few years I realized that you can never fully trust anyone but yourself. I’ve learned that you have to rely on yourself first, and others second.
It doesn’t matter how well you know someone, because that person you thought you knew can turn their back on you in an instant, without giving you a second thought.
Don’t try to change anyone, it won’t happen.
Be who you want to be, not what everyone else wants you to be; you’ll be much happier.

For about 6–8 months I was happier than I’ve ever been before, due to an event that I never expected to affect me. All that has changed now, and I don’t ever see myself achieving that level of happiness again…

When I look back on my life I don’t see so much change as a person but change in how I understand who I am. In my younger years I was critical and comparative, always feeling like I didn’t quite measure up to others or their expectations. As I age I m more relaxed about who I am. I realize that I’ve always been sensitive and a bit left of center. What’s changed is I don’t try to change that anymore.

The essential me hasn’t changed very much over the years. I understand myself a little better and I have become a little more cynical of authority but that’s about all.

Someone once asked the two time Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter, “Are you Frank Shorter?” Shorter relied, “No but I use to be.” I think that my personality hasn’t changed much over my 6 decades of life. My body is now in rapid decline physically and that is disturbing. Oh well it is a natural process and only people get a chance to observe their own body decompose. HA!

There are things that have stayed with me throughout my life and things that have changed. I always cared about the community. I always wanted to do things that help other people’s lives.

But different jobs and various health issues have changed my sense of my capabilities and the way I can do this kind of work. I have had to cope with figuring out who I am when I can’t do what I want. I also have to cope when my life goes into upheaval and I no longer have a choice about being who I was.

I think I used to be more of a bitch than I am now.I’ve had to learn to lighten up and do my own thing.

@emeraldisles Glad you’ve changed to a better person ;)

I used to be the lonely kid who would never go out to school dances, always at home studying. Had no social life at all.
Now I am the leader of social life. I can’t seem to miss school dances but I still always study like I used to do before.

For the most part I’ve stayed the same. Some things have fluxed a bit, but my main self has remained the same. I’ve also become more understanding towards certain things that I haven’t before.

I’ve changed a lot in some ways, but not at all in others. I’ve learned to become more self-sufficient, but I still definitely rely on others. I’ve become mentally stronger and yet weaker at the same time. People’s opinions still matter to me somewhat, but I don’t let that change me anymore. I’ weird and strange and if you don’t like me, then too bad for you, because I’m awesome and a good friend.

I am who I was when I was a child, except a little more balanced.
I spent a few years not being me, and I didn’t like it. Being me again is a relief.

I used to be the angry person doing “good” and hoping I’d get “good” in return until I got so fed up that I decided to some “bad” things and see if I’d been missing out.

Who I am now is a person who’s sifted through a lot of bs in order to feel ok wanting what I want for what’s left of my life as long as it’s not harming others. So far it’s working well for me.