People Change People

I was watching Girl Meets World with my kids the other day and the theme of the show was ‘People change people.” It made me think of the Tarnish in Marriage post I wrote. However, even after updating that post some I found it that post still didn’t cover everything that comes to mind when I think about this simple but yet profound statement. People change people all the time around us without us even realizing it is happening.

“You are the company that you keep.” Unknown Author

My mom drilled this into my head a lot when I was growing up. I thought she was just saying it and that it really didn’t matter who I hung out with. Then one day one of my friends had the brilliant idea of stealing stuff from our local gas station. Of course, I decided to jump into it too. That was the first time I saw my mom get mad as fire at me. She called the cops on me herself. Together with her and the cop, I went back to the store and returned the item and also apologized. Needless to say I never stole anything again! She stressed this quote big time on that day.

I still didn’t leave that set of friends just out of spite. However, in a few months’ time I realized that I didn’t want to go down the path they were headed. I became the person trying to tell them to get their lives straight. When my “new desires” and influences didn’t work on them, I choose to leave their friendship.

New Friends New Changes

Then I started hanging around a girl who believed in God. Her family was very close knit. She believed in waiting until marriage for sex. She didn’t smoke, drink, and drugs never even crossed her mind. She possessed a calm quiet soul. She always seemed at peace. She was beautiful (she still is) both inside and out. I longed to be like her more. I still do!

She made me think of the possibilities in life. She made me long to do better with my life. I did start digging into my studies a bit more. She never forced her opinions or thoughts on me. She just stated them and went about her business. She never gave me grief for my lifestyle, but she did make it known that there was something better. She knew that because she had parents who love each other deeply and were a good example for her.

She made not of changed me THEN, but her actions and her lifestyle NEVER left my thoughts. When I did finally come out of my cloud of fear of REALLY living my life, her lifestyle and words of wisdom came to mind.

People Change People

My husband has had to help pull me out of my ruts a few times. I’ve had people who have crushed my self-esteem to next to nothing. In turn, they’ve made me feel like I was worthless. I read a post yesterday about the impact our words have on others, and it really hit home for me. It made me realize how much damage I’ve been doing to my own family because I was raised up with it being done to me.

I had to apologize to my kids. I don’t want them to be battling with self-esteem issues. I want them to be confident in their skills and in who they are as a person. They are all smart and have good hearts, and I don’t want that to be shattered by me.

That’s where I see firsthand how people change people. People may not make another person do something, but they do give them examples to live by. They do inspire and encourage others to be a certain way with their words and actions. My blog tribe encourages me to be a better blogger and to get out of my comfort zone all the time. My husband supports me unconditionally and gives me the confidence to know that I can do whatever I put my mind to.

Share with us how someone has changed you for better or worse.