Editor's note: This I Believe is a nationwide essay project that aims to inspire public discourse about belief. For the third straight year, the R&L is publishing one local essay every day of February. For more information, visit www.thisibelieve.org.
Everything around us changes all the time. Look around you. There have been so many discoveries in science; technology gets more and more advanced by the second. Everything, forever changing, getting better, newer, faster. Even people change. As time rolls by, it’s easy to see people physically change, but they also change mentally -- personalities change, even attitudes change. Sometimes, this is for the better; sometimes for worse. This is why my one core value is, when everything changes, try to stay true to who you are.
This isn’t saying that change is necessarily a bad thing. I know this firsthand that a little change can be a good thing. It’s just always good to stick with your values, beliefs and what you love.
Through the past year, I’ve gone through some changes. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I was a shy little girl when it came to new people, but was crazy when I was with my best friends. I was a girl who really liked dance and music. I hated conflict back then, and would do anything to avoid it, including apologizing when whatever happened wasn’t necessarily my fault. In the past year, as I matured, I have changed some of these things.
I’m not really a shy person anymore; however I’m still crazy when I get around my friends. I have more of a passion for dance and music than I did before. It used to be just something I did and that I liked but now it’s what I absolutely love, something I can’t go a day without doing. Now, conflict I still don’t like, but I don’t just roll over and apologize anymore. I actually fight for what I think is right and don’t just give in unless I just have to. I guess you can say I’ve gained a little backbone. The changes I’ve gone through were for the better, but for the most part, I have remained the same girl I was before, just with a few needed improvements.
Change isn’t just a thing that goes on with people, either. Looking around, I see change everywhere. Even downtown Statesville has changed. When I first moved to the downtown area, it was simple, not that many stores open, more historic than anything else. Since I was rather young then, I just saw it as old and boring. However, within the past year or so, Statesville has experienced change. The downtown area now looks more modern and, in all honesty, better. It still has the historical qualities and places that it has always had but the little modifications make it more appealing and inviting.
Whether the change personal, environmental or a community change, sticking to your roots is what’s important. This is what I have tried to do. Staying who you are when there’s so much change going on is a challenge, but if you know who you are, it’s so much easier. This is why my one core value is when everything else changes, try to stay true to who you are.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement