Throughout my life I have experienced many things and have connected with many people. In life, when connections are made, sometimes we must step away from them. It is important to learn that it isn’t always about you. It’s about them too. If I have learned to grow, so can they. It is about moving past what I always want to think and believe about someone and something.

When someone comes back into my life, it can be easy to see them as they were in the past. It can be hard to understand that just like me, they too can learn and grow. Their growth is not always going to be the same as mine. It requires having grace for both them and me. Being patient with them is also necessary. Everyone comes from all walks of life. Just like I have my flaws, they have their own too. It can be difficult to withstand them. Still, accepting and understanding them is important. They have accepted and understood me many times.

It is also understanding how important it is to take care of myself each and every day. It can affect my feelings about difficult things. Inconsistency in my mental health treatment can cause strife between myself and others. That is not who I am. While things can be forgiven, it is so many times that same mistake can be willing to be forgiven. When tolerance to accept and understand the behavior runs out, it’s time to handle the issue. Eventually, I had to learn that taking care of myself is important. It is crucial not only for controlling my thoughts but also for accepting things as they are now. Not how they used to be.

While my mind can be often stuck in the past. It was crucial for me to learn that many of those thoughts no longer serve me. Some thoughts are no longer valid. Things also change and are not always the way I think about them. Just because someone is the way that they were in the past does not mean that it instantly goes away. Just as others were patient with me and at times continue to do so. I must be mutual in that respect.

Part of learning and growing is seeing beyond the hurtful thoughts. I had these thoughts about people in the past or about the way things were done. Everything and everybody change, including myself. I must be kind to myself. This is important when interacting with others. I need to accept others for who they are now, not who they were in the past. Just as I have grown, they have also grown. I must be as kind to them as they were to me, and as others were.

Thoughts are just thoughts. But doing what is needed to control them and their related feelings is crucial to my well-being. It can be hard to do what is needed, but I have learned the value can pay off in dividends.